The Goblet of Fairy Fire!
by Dragon Sin Of Wrath
Summary: The Fairies are on a mission. Blend in. remain unnoticed. Stop Voldemort from rising. protect. Harry. Potter. The wizards of "Fairytail academy of magic" are here to compete in the Triwizard tournament undercover as a normal Earth wizard school. Easier said than done! But the dark wizards had better get their act together! Fairytail has come knocking! Nalu, Gale, maybe others
1. Rain

**Hey guys. So I decided to write a Harry Potter crossover. I already have one that actually with myself, the half dragon of Fairytail, but I figured that it would be cool if somwthing like this story happened. So Lucy is helping me write something new. Review plz, and feel free to digital slap me if I don't update for a while. I have procrastination/motivational issues. Enjoy.**

Chapter 1: the guild

Levy's POV

The guild was unusually quiet when I stepped inside that morning. It was like all the energy had been sucked away from the normally lively patrons of Fairytail. I guess the rain will do that. It had been a total downpour, nonstop all week! Juvia was the only one who seemed to enjoy the gloomy weather, being a rain woman and all. As I gazed around the room, I noticed that many of the regulars were missing. I stepped through the door and shook off my wet hair. Gajeel and Lily were nowhere to be found. Not that I was looking or anything! Shut up! Jet and Droy were also MIA.

"Good morning, minna." I said colourlessly, sliding onto my usual barstool. "Good morning, Lu-chan."

"I don't know how good of a morning you could call this." She sighed, stirring her milkshake. "It's been too wet to do ANYTHING!"

"Cheer up, Lushi!" Happy chirped, munching on a fish. "It'll clear up soon."

"You think so?" She asked hopefully.

"Not really."

"Stupid cat!" She cried, thumping her head on the counter. I chuckled.

"Cheer up, Lu. It's supposed to be sunny again in a few days."

"It's taking too long!" She whined. "Juvia, are you causing this?" She asked, knowing as well as I did that Juvia's moods could influence the weather. She glanced over at the blue haired woman, watching her expression.

"Juvia would never!" She exclaimed, insulted. "Gray-sama doesn't like too much rain." Juvia picked away at her meal sullenly. "This is too much water even for Juvia's tastes."

"Where is everyone?" I asked, glancing around. "It feels so empty in here today. Do you know, Mira?"

"Well. Not many people are out on jobs, so I assume that most of them are in bed. Lissana is at home, Elfman has the flu, Evergreen's taking care of him. Laxus Fried and Bixlow left for a mission, and we're here." The barmaid said brightly, cleaning out mugs.

"Huh. I would've thought that Natsu would be here." Lucy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he slept in."

"Where's Gajeel?" I asked curiously. Lucy gave me a suspicious look.

"Why do you want to kn-"

"Forget it!" I said quickly, blushing slightly. Wait...why am I blushing?!

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Gray today either." Came a voice that I turned towards, seeing a familiar redhead.

"Hello, Erza!" We all waved. "How are you?"

"Wet." She replied with a tight smile, wringing out her hair. "This weather in unbelieveable! Juvia, are you the cause of-"

"Why does everyone always blame Juvia?!" She cried. "Juvia had nothing to do with this!" Her tears quickly began to fill the room with even more water.

"Calm down, Juvia." Mira said gently. "We weren't trying to offend you." The bluenette cried for a few minutes before Slowly she came back from her flood.

"Thank you, Mira-san." She said quietly, wiping her eyes. "This rain is strange. Juvia can sense something different about it." The rain woman mutters.

"Like what?" Erza tilted her head in curiosity.

"Juvia cannot be sure."

"Is it dangerous?" Lucy asked nervously. Juvia glared at her while muttering 'love rival' under her breath.

"Juvia doesn't think so." She says finally. "But she would advise caution."

"We can do that." I nodded and sighed. "Not only is it rain, but it's potentially dangerous rain. Greeeeeat." I said sarcastically. "I may go and use the baths." I muttered, jumping down to head out. "I really need a pick-me-up right now."

"I'll come too if you want."

"It's fine, Lu. See you guys later!" I smiled and left, walking down the street in the cold downpour, my hair sticking to my neck. I wrapped my arms around myself and soon began to shiver, teeth chattering. Someone draped a warm cloak over my shoulders.

"Oi, shrimp. What are you doing out in the rain?" I looked up, a pair of red eyes staring back at me. His usual scowl etched on his face. His normally cold eyes reflected a miniscule amout of concern. Something about that look made a slight blush rise to my cheeks.

"I-I was heading to the bath house." I murmered, pulling the warm fabric around myself. It smelled like metal. Metal with a hint of pantherlily. It smelled like Gajeel. I smiled softly to myself.

"You should carry an umbrella at least." He scowled, crossing his arms. "You'll catch pnemonia."

"I'm fine. It's just a little rain." I shrugged, looking away.

"You should be careful. Something's off about this rain. I don't know what it is, but something." He looked up at the clouds. "It's got a funky smell to it."

"I've been warned." I mumbled. "Juvia was saying something about it."

"And you came out anyway?" He asked, giving me a look.

"Don't look at me like I'm stupid!" I cried angrily. He patted my head patronizingly.

"Gihi. Calm down, shorty. Come on, I'll walk with you for a bit." He grinned at me, ruffling my hair. I scowled and began to walk again grumpily.

"I wish you'd stop treating me like a little kid."

"Then you should quit acting like one." He rolled his eyes. "If you knew that there might be something wrong with the rain, why go walking in it? Sounds childish to me." I puffed out my cheeks in exasperation.

"I never asked for your opinion!"

"Sure, kid."

"Ugh! You're impossible!" I cried. Beginning to run off in the other direction. I heard a loud bang in the distance, like an explosion. A bright light blinded me as something big crashed into me, pinning me to the ground. My head hit the cobblestones and I blacked out.

That's where it all began.

**Thanks to anyone reading. I will update soon, any comments or tips as well as feedback is appreciated. I know that it's a short chapter, but i wanted to add dramatic effect, okay?! Dragon out! ((Gray! How do I turn this thing off?!))**


	2. What the?

**Alright! Here we go, chapter two! Woot woot! I am taking requests for pairings and votes for who should go, and what house they should be in. I was in Slytherin when I went. Me and Gray both. Not my fault that I'm an assasin! -.- Oh well. Keep up the reviews and stuff, in any case. I have a request already for an Erza/Harry pairing. I ship Jerza, but would that pairing fly in the opinion of the public? **

Chapter 2: What the...

Levy's POV I coughed and groaned as I came to, only to find that there was a huge object on top of me. Wait...that object was...Gajeel? Gajeel was on top of me! "Kyaaa! Get off me, metal head!" I shrieked, blushing madly. He glanced down as though he'd just noticed what was happening. "Calm down, shrimp." He grunted, getting to his feet and pulling me with him. "You alright?" "I was fine until you-...what was that?!" He scowled at me. "Well sor-ry. Next time there's an explosion, I'll be sure to let you take the brunt of the impact!" "Explosion? Wait..." I thought back on it, the loud noise and bright light from before. The rain seemed to be hammering down even harder than it had been. "We should check it out. If bunny girl and the rest were inside the guild, it could be bad. That's where the sound came from." He held his arm subconsciously. Although he wouldn't admit it... "Gajeel are you okay?" "Fine. Salamander's punches pack more force than that." There was an obvious limp to his gait as he walked, a scowl set in his face. "You should talk to Wen-" "I don't wanna hear it, Shrimp." He snapped. "I'm fine. What about you? You hit the ground harder than you should have."

"I'm fine. Come on. We need to found out where that explosion came from." I mumbled, still blushing at the fact that the big bucket of bolts had been pinning me to the ground.

Natsu's POV

"What did you do, Jackass?!"

"What the Hell! Why do you think I had anything to do with that, you stupid pyro?!" Gray growled. I smashed my forehead into his. the answer obvious to me.

"Obviously you and Juvia had a plan to make all this rain to that you could freeze it all and take over Magnolia for your own weird stripping fest!" I snapped back, punching him in the face.

"Why you! Ice make-" He began. I grinned, hands lighting on fire. bring it on, frosty. I thought smugly.

"Natsu! Gray!" I turned in surprise to see Levy running up the hill with Gajeel. I turned on the stripper.

"You got Levy and Gajeel in on your plan too?!" I was pretty shocked. who would've thought that sweet little Levy was capable of this... I guess the people you know best are the ones you have to look out for.

"THERE IS NO PLAN, YOU IDIOT!" He yelled, face turning red.

"THEN WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!" I yelled back, noticing that he was in his boxers again. What a freak!

"Natsu! Do you know what happened? We heard the blast and-"

"Don't you play innocent with me!" I scowled, looking right into Levy's face. "You may have Lucy fooled, but I see you for what you really are!" She took a step back, sweatdropping.

"What're you on about, Salamander?" Gajeel scowled.

"I'll never take my clothes off for you!" I cried, tightening my scarf. I felt a huge pain explode in the back of my head, and turned angrily. "OW! YOU WANNA GO, YOU STUPID RUST BUCKET?" I yelled, noticing that it was Gajeel's arm that had hit me. He retracted it and readied his fists with a stupid look on his...oh wait...that was just his face in general, my bad.

"Bring it on, moron!"

"We don't have time for that!" Levy cried. "Natsu, there was an explosion! you must have felt it! what's going on?!"

"Like you don't know!" I scowled. "And I'm confronting the guy who did it right now! If you'll excuse me, I'll deal with you two later!"

"Natsu! Gray didn't do this! Are you crazy?!" She exclaimed. I looked at her strangely.

"Of course he did. who else could it be?"

"Why do you always blame me?!"

"Natsu listen! There's bigger problems than your issues with Gray right now! Lu-chan was at the gui-" I was already running. Lucy was at the guild. Lucy and Happy. I could hear the others following behind me before I slipped in the mud. I began sliding downhill and my stomach clenched and rolled. "Oh my gods..." I gulped, almost throwing up.

"Could you guys get any more pathetic?" I heard Gray grumble.

"Shut up, Ice loser." I heard Gajeel snap back. I finally came to a stop, no longer dying.

"I'm alive!" I cheered. "I'm fired up now!"

"Just keep running you idiot!"

Lucy's POV

I picked myself up off the ground, coughing from the cloud of dust. "Minna? Is everyone okay?" I grabbed the barstool and dragged myself up. standing shakily I looked around.

"Everyone is fine. Juvia pulled them into her water lock before the explosion. The rain woman said, reforming along with the others.

"And you didn't help me...why?" I scowled, aching all over.

"Juvia shouldn't help her romantic rival. Juvia will never let you have her Gray-sama."

"SERIOUSLY?! I'VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES! I'M NOT INTERESTED!" I cried in exasperation. Mirajane giggled lightly. I heard another voice laughing behind me and turned in surprise to see an old man with half moon glasses, a long beard and an odd set of clothes. almost like robes. He continued to laugh and I took a step back for good measure. "Uh...Erza?" I asked nervously. "Do you know this guy?"

"I'm afraid not." She said cautiously. "Were you the cause of that just now, sir?"

"I'm afraid so." He said in a kindly voice. "I do apologize for the mess." He glanced around at the overturned chairs and such. He flicked a small wooden stick and everything flew back into place. I looked on curiously. What an odd magic... "Forgive me, but is your master here?"

"The master is out right now, but he should be back soon if you'd like to wait." Mirajane said brighty. "Welcome to Fairytail, stranger. Would you like a drink?"

"Ah yes. Have you any brandy?" He asked politey, taking a seat.

"Coming right up!" Mira walked back into the kitchen while we all continued to observe the odd stranger.

"May I ask your name, sir?" Erza asked cautiously.

"Juvia would also like to know."

He glanced over at us, folding his hands in his lap. "My name is Albus Dumbledore. But you may call me professor. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He informed us. I tilted my head in confusion.

"There are magic schools?"

"Oh yes. There aren't very many of them, mind. But there are some. I do beg your pardon, but I would prefer to explain this only once if you would wait for your master and the others to arrive. I have business with Makarov that I must discuss." He explained as his drink arrived. I was in no way satisfied with his answer, quite the contrary. I was bursting with questions! A agic school? Why didn't we have those here? Where was this Hogwarts? What was that explosion? What was that magic that he was using? But the odd man...the professor, seemed content to continue sitting in silence until the others arrived. So I did the only thing I could do. I took my seat, and I waited.

**Chapter 2 done! Will Natsu finally calm down enough to listen? **

**"Unlikely!" **

**Shut up ,Gray! review, nice internet people! :3 If you still find it short, I promise that they will start to get longer!**


	3. Earth?

**Well now, this is coming along nicely, aint it? It seems as though the Harry and Erza ship will most likely sail at this point. thank you to silverwolf7791 for the suggestion of that Idea in the first place. All reviews are appreciated, and hopefully you guys stick with me till the end. I am trying to make it interesting. I enjoy cliffhangers because I'm evil, but I'm usually quick to update again. Enjoy! **

Chapter 3: Earth?

Lucy's POV

"Lucy!" Natsu fell over himself through the doorway. "Happy! are you guys okay? Gray caused that explosion and-"

"GRAY DIDN'T DO THAT!" Levy, Gajeel, myself and the rest of the gathered wizards yelled at him. He just shrugged.

"Who then? And who's this old fart?" He asked, cocking his head at Dumbledore.

"Natsu! Show some respect!" I exclaimed, horrified. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore. Natsu's manners are horrible." The professor simply chuckled to himself as though he found us all to be very amusing. "This is the man who caused that explosion." I explained patiently. Natsu cocked his head.

"Wait, you mean THIS GUY did all that?"

"Yes! For Pete's sake you should listen when someone is talking to you!"

"Lucy talks too much." He stage whispered to Happy.

"Aye."

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, hitting him over the head.

"That's enough!" Erza said sternly. "We're all here now, Dumbledore-sama. Can you explain your purpose to us now?" He shook his head with a small smile.

"It would seem that you have miscalculated, madam. Your guild's master is still absent. Until he arrives, I will retain my silence."

"What do you want with the old man?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Old man? If dear Makarov is old, I am ancient." He chuckled softly. I found myself smiling against my will. This man was weird for sure, but he had a calming presence. There was a laid back air about him that reminded me of the master in a way, I was almost ready for him to start telling us brats to get back to work and stop destroying things. The thought made me giggle to myself.

"What's so funny, Lu-chan?" Levy asked curiously.

"Just thinking. This guy and Makarov are birds of a feather. But this man seems less likely to drink until he passes out and be a big pervert to everyone." I grinned. Levy looked at him for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"I know what you mean." She said with a smile.

Another hour passed before Makarov finally arrived, closely followed by the Thunder legion.

"Good afternoon, Master!" Mira greeted. "How was your meeting with the magic council?"

"You brats are going to be the death of me with all these apologies for property damage." He grumbled, stomping over to the bar. Laxus looked around lazily.

"Sorry, not sorry, Gramps."

"Grrrr..."

"Makarov? My goodness, you've gotten shorter." Dumbledore commented lightly. The master's head snapped up.

"Albus? Well what do you know! You're still kicking around, eh?" He laughed. "Must've been 20 years since I last saw you!" We all watched, dumbfounded.

"Master? Do you... Do you know this man?" Erza asked in bewilderment.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He grinned. "This is my old friend, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Albus, these are my brats. Lucy, Natsu, Erza, Juvia, Mirajane, Levy, Gajeel, Gray, Happy, Laxus, Fried, Evergreen, and Bixlow." He said, pointing to each of us in turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Makarov, I have some urgent business with you that I'd like to discuss. Have you an office or private room where we could perhaps sit and chat?" He asked. The master nodded.

"Sure. Right this way."

"But wait! He promised that he'd explai-" I began.

"All in good time, my dear lady." Dumbledore smiled, following Makarov out.

"Dammit."

"Cheer up, Lu-chan. I'm just glad that you're okay. I was worried when I heard the noise."

"Just a few bumps and bruises. I'll be fine, Levy." I grinned. Gray looked around.

"But no one else is hurt. Were you just closer to the blast or something?"

"No. Juvia protected everyone but me." I grumbled. Gray turned to glare at her.

"What the Hell, Juvia? Why didn't you protect Lucy too? What if she'd gotten seriously hurt?" He scowled. Juvia's eyes widened.

"Juvia didn't think of that! Please don't be mad at her, Gray-sama! Juvia didn't mean it!"

"Well you should've-"

"It's fine, Gray." I said gently. "Juvia just wasn't thinking is all."

"Fine. But be more careful next time. Okay?"

"Juvia promises!"

"Good. So what's up with this guy, anyway? He caused the explosion, you said?"

"Well, the noise was worse than the actual blast, but yeah. He just kind of appeared after it was gone, like he had used teleportation magic or something. It was bizarre." I said thoughtfully. How did he do that? As far as I knew, teleportation magic was quiet. That's why it made for a good stealth tool.

"He smells funny."

"Really, Natsu? That's what you got from all this?" I pressed a hand to my face. "You're such an idiot."

"Hey! He really does smell weird!"

"Salamander's right. This guy smells like that crazy rain that we've had these last couple of days." Gajeel confirmed. Bixlow looked at me.

"Hey, cosplayer, They might be onto something. This guy's soul has something off about it."

"I AM NOT A COSPLAYER!" I shrieked. He laughed at my reaction, sticking out his freakishly long tongue at me.

"Then why are you always wearing skimpy costumes? You've been a bunny, a cheerleader-"

"SHUT. UP!"

"Cosplayer! Cosplayer!" His creepy dolls chanted. "Bunny! bouncy! bouncy! Cheerleader! Yeah! Go team!"

"Stop it!" I whined.

"Leave her be, Bixlow. You get nothing by getting a rise out of her." Fried sighed.

"Whatever. But my point was that there is one weird man in master's office right now. Agreed?" He said, adjusting his helmet. We all nodded.

"If the old man trusts him, I trust him."

"I agree with Laxus." Erza said. "Master Makarov's judgment has yet to lead us astray. We should trust him."

"And if he does turn out to be an enemy?"

"He's just one man. Up against the strongest wizards in Fiore besides Lucy."

"Hey!"

"Calm down, I'm just messin with ya!" Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up now!"

"Alright, Brats! Listen up! As it turns out, Dumbledore is enlisting some of you to attend his school."

"What?!" We all exclaimed. There were some mixed reactions. I was curious, Levy and Fried were excited, Laxus didn't care, Erza looked interested, Natsu, Gray, Evergreen and Bixlow looked horrified.

"Albus? Care to explain?"

"Okay. Listen closely now. As you may have already guessed, I am not from around here. I come from another world known as Earth."

"...Earth?" Juvia asked curiously. "Not Earthland?"

"Yes. Earth. It is similar in idea to the world known as Edolas. On Earth, magic is used differently than it is here. The wielders of magic are born with their power, it doesn't flow freely as it does here." He held up the strange stick from before. "This is a wand. We use them to channel the magic that lies dormant within our bodies."

"Sounds like a holder type wizard." I reasoned.

"A little bit, yes. But now on to the reason that I'm here. Our world is in trouble."

"Trouble? From what?" Gray asked curiously.

"There is a dark wizard known as Voldemort that is threatening to rise to power once more. This man is a heartless murderer who will do anything to get what he wants. I cannot do nearly as much as I would like to thwart him while overseeing my duties of protecting the students who attend Hogwarts, so I come to you for help. You could be the difference between peace and war."

"This dark wizard, how bad is he?"

"Alas, I can't say that I know for sure. But I believe that you are stronger. I wish for you to come to our school and participate in the Triwizard Tournament. You would be undercover as the students of Fairytail Acadamy of Magic."

"Woah who woah. What tournament?" Natsu asked excitedly, cracking his knuckles.

"It's similar to our Grand Magic Games." Makarov explained patiently before nodding for Dumbledore to continue.

"Yes. And one more thing. There is a particular student that Voldemort will stop at nothing to eliminate. His name is Harry Potter, and you must protect him at all costs. If Voldemort does rise again, Harry will be the first person that he tries to kill. Will you help me?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely!"

"Aye sir!"

"I'm all fired up!"

"If shrimp goes, I go."

"I can't leave the pyro to screw up."

"We accept." Erza concluded. Dumbledore smiled in relief.

"Thank you. Meet me back here in an hour with those who will be going. I need to sort out a few more details before we depart. I imagine that you have more questions as well. I will see you all soon." I nodded and began running home to pack up my things.

**Two chapters in one day, I hope that you're happy! I pray that you keep reading, and as I promised, this chapter is 300 words longer than the last one. I'm open to suggestions as to whether or not I should reveal who will be going to Hogwarts in the next chapter, or to do an introductory chapter from Harry's POV. The vote is still open for who you would like to see attending hogwarts, what house, and a vote on ships. Ciao!**


	4. To Earth we shall go!

**Hello, people of Earthland! Alright, now you finally get to find out who all shall be joining in this adventure! LET'S GET READY TO RUUUMBLE! Keep and feedback that you have coming! I love to hear it, and it motivates me. Sorry if it's short, but I needed a pause for dramatic effect.**

Chapter 4: To Earth we shall go

Mira's POV

A short while later, the guild was simply bustling with activity! Everyone who was going on the mission had flooded the hall with suitcases, bags, and anything that they felt they would need. "Are you all packed Erza? I think that you have everything but the kitchen sink in there!" I giggled, watching the knight wheel her cart of stuff into the hall.

"No. I packed that too. The sink is in the kitchen and bath supplies section."

"I'm sorry I asked." I said, sweat dropping slightly.

"Are you coming with us, Mira?" She asked curiously.

"Yep! Lisanna and Elfman are going to come as well!" I said happily.

"Wow! There must be half the guild going on this mission! I hope that it doesn't take too long... With all the life threatening stuff that happens around here, I'm almost scared to leave for more than a week." Lucy chuckled nervously. I smiled reassuringly.

"It'll be fine, trust me. Speaking of being gone, what about your rent?"

Lucy's face lit up. "Master Dumbledore-er...professor Dumbledore is taking care of it. In addition to paying us for the work, he's going to be paying off our housing while we're away!"

"What a kind man." Erza smiled. "Very considerate of him."

"Oh! I'm just so excited!" A voice behind me chirped. I turned to see a small girl of about fourteen smiling at me.

"First master! To what do we owe the pleasure?" I asked politely. "It's been a while since you've left tenrou island."

"I could sense large amounts of magic coming from here, and came to investigate! Now that I know what's going on, I think I'll accompany you."

"It would be an honor to have you, Mavis-sama." Erza bowed respectfully. Master jumped up onto the bar counter and raised his hand.

"Alright, brats! Here's the scoop! Albus and I have constructed a plan as to rules and guidelines of how you're all going to fit into the school. Several of you shall be posing as students in fourth year. The rest shall be posing as teachers, and assisting the existing teachers with their classes. The wizards posing as students shall be Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Bixlow, Freed, Evergreen, Levy, Mira, Lisanna, Juvia, and Gajeel." Master announced. I nodded. So I would be a student, then. "You'll use what they call a sorting hat in order to be put into your corresponding houses."

"But master! What about-"

"Elfman. You, Cana, and Laxus will pose as teachers. Don't worry, I didn't forget you." I giggled a little as my brother's face turned red.

"Why us?" Laxus asked suspiciously, as thought the master would have some ultimate motive for making him teach.

"Because. Laxus, you're too old to be a student, Elfman is too big, and Cana wouldn't be allowed to drink if she was underage."

"I don't care if the sky is falling, there's no way that I would sober up for this." Cana smirked. "As long as I can have my booze, everything will be just peachy."

"Master? I'd like to inquire about the use of our magic." Erza said, resting one hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Their magic is much different than ours. It has many different rules and restrictions, so avoid using magic unless you absolutely have to! Albus will be providing you all with a false wand. It won't be like the ones that they use, just an empty stick. But if you do need to use magic, you can make it seem as though it came from the wand. Still though, keep it under wraps. It's vital that you do not blow your cover.

"Understood, master." I said, a little bit relieved that I wouldn't be expected to use my satan soul all the time. Not many people understood just how hard it is for me as I am now.

"WHAT?! NO MAGIC?" Natsu cried, his hands bursting into flames. "But gramps!"

"No buts. Natsu, this is very important! You CANNOT keep solving your problems like that! You'll blow the entire mission and put us all in danger. Is that what you want?"

"No! but-"

"Then you'll listen to my warning. Otherwise you'll have to play the punishment game." He said darkly.

"Right! No magic! Totally cool with that!" He squeaked.

"um...Dumbledore-sama?" Wendy asked quietly.

"Yes, child?" The old wizard looked down at her curiously.

"Are you the cause of all this rain?" She asked. I considered. The dragonslayers had said that the rain smelled like Dumbledore...were they somehow connected?"

"Yes, I believe so. A side effect of me coming to your world."

"That happened before the anima sucked us all up!" Lucy exclaimed. "It makes sense!"

"Quite. Is everyone ready?" He asked, looking at us over his glasses. I took a deep breath and nodded, so did everyone else. Dumbledore tapped the counter of the bar with his wand, muttering a strange word before the counter lit up blue. "Everyone touch the bar! I will be along shortly with your luggage!" I laid my hand on it and after a moment felt a yank behind my navel. then everything went black.

...

Gajeel's POV

when my eyes opened, we were free falling through the sky. My stomach was in utter rebellion from whatever magic had transported us and I could hardly see straight through the motion sickness. My eyes locked onto the shrimp a few feet away and I pulled her close to me, Trying to protect her in case we hit the ground. I would survive a fall like that. Levy wouldn't. I couldn't help but noticed that her hair smelled nice as we were falling, like blueberries.

"Open! Gate of the golden ram: Aries!"

I felt a warm fuzzball engulf me a few feet above the ground, like landing on a cloud.

"Nice one, Lucy!" Salamander yelled.

"Gajeel?" I looked down in surprise.

"You alright, Shrimp?"

"Fine. Thanks." She smiled at me then. I don't know what it was, but there was something odd about that smile. It made me feel weird.

"No problem." I grunted, letting go of her. The wool disappeared and dropped us all to the ground.

"Sorry!" The spirit squeaked before disappearing. I stood, looking around.

"Where the Hell are we? Is that a castle?" Gray asked.

"Evidently, this is Hogwarts." The green haired stiff said calmly, one hand on his katana. Huh. I wonder how that thing would taste. Magic swords are delicious. Anyways...

"You think?" Bixlow said, looking around.

"Think so! Think so! School! Learning! Magic!" His little freaks chanted. I saw other people arriving as well, a giant carriage pulled by winged horses. A giant ship, and far off in the distance, a train was chugging away from the castle. Students crowded the windows to watch all of the schools arrive. I just hoped that none of them had seen the sheep girl.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Laxus said tiredly.

"Isn't it obvious?" I watched as the little blonde ghost stepped forwards. "We go inside!"

**Okay, I have everyone figured out except for Gray! Where do you guys think that I should put him? As always, reviews appreciated! Sorry to any Rowen fans, but I can only speak for so many characters at once! I'm only human, okay?! I'm only human! And I plead when I fall down, I'm only human! And I crash and I break down! Your words in my head, knives in my heart, you build me up and then I fall apart 'cause I'm only humaaaaaan! PEACE OUT! :3**


	5. The sorting hat and Enemies

**I have nothing to say... Shocker **

Chapter 5: Sorting

Erza's POV

We were ushered into the castle by a stern looking woman, her face set in a tight grimace. She was a taller woman, with a pair of glasses resting on her nose,w a long pointed hat on her head, and she introduced herself as professor Mcgonogal. She reminded me of Porlyeusica in a way, but this woman looked a tiny bit nicer. Perhaps she was the Earth version of the healer? Oh well. There would be time to dwell on these things later. We were ushered down long dark corridors with the strangest moving pictures on the wall. Almost as though each one was a movie, but all of the characters from different scenes were interacting and thinking for themselves.

"What the heck is this place?" Gray murmured to me.

"I don't know." I murmured back. "The magic here is so bizarre... I wonder what else it can do..."

"Well if we're going to blend in, we'll have to catch on quick." He muttered. I nodded in agreement.

"Man, this place is so awesome!" Natsu danced around like a kid in a candy shop, looking at everything with child-like awe. Professor McGonagal gave him a strange look, but didn't make a comment.

"Natsu, calm down!" Lucy scolded him, smacking him in the back of the head.

"Could it be any more obvious?" Lisanna giggled as the two continued to bicker. I shook my head.

"No way. It'll happen someday, though." I smiled. We walked up one of the staircases, down many dark halls, and into large open room. We were obviously late to something. All eyes were on us as Dumbledore finished a speech. A large goblet in the middle of the room had flames swirling inside it. Natsu started to run forwards with a crazy grin. I punched him in the face.

"Ow! What the Hell, Erza?!" He yelled angrily, rubbing the bruise. People stared at us curiously, many of the males had eyes on Lucy, myself, Evergreen, and the other girls. Mira waved happily.

"Natsu! Set an example!" I snapped. He shrunk away in fear.

"Aye!" He squeaked. Dumbledore glanced at us before continuing his speech.

"These are the wizards of Fairytail academy of magic!" Dumbledore announced loudly. "But rather than have their own quarters and classes as the other schools do, they will be sharing houses and classes with the students of Hogwarts! Let's all welcome them with open arms!" There was a moment of silence before polite applause greeted us. "Let the sorting begin!"

Gajeel's POV

The old man resumed his seat and professor Mcgonogal pulled out a short scroll.

"Romeo Combolt." Romeo nervously walked up to the stool that waited for him. An old hat was placed on his head that began to talk right away.

"I see! Hmmm...I know just where to put you! Seven years is a long time to wait for your friends, Romeo. And devotion to a girl...Hufflepuff it is!" The kid took his seat at the yellow table with a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. Eugh. I'm was that we didn't have to wear this place's stupid clothes.

"Natsu Dragneel." The salamander practically jumped onto the stage, grinning like the idiot that he was. As with Romeo, the hat was placed on his head and began speaking.

"Hmm. A difficult choice. I see a thirst for power, but you would never harm another in order to get it. no. Slytherin isn't the place for you. Not enough darkness. Perhaps...No. Not nearly smart enough to be a Ravenclaw." I started to laugh, my face turning red, as did Gray's. Levy had to elbow me, and Erza elbowed Gray before we could stop. I think I got off easier there. "There is both a fierce sense of loyalty, and bravery present... I think I've got it. Gryffindor!" The red table started to clap as he sat down, getting some glances at his pink hair.

"Gray Fullbuster." He walked up with a bored expression, and the hat began mumbling to itself.

"Hmm...smart, loyal, you want power as well...but I think that Gryffindor is the place for you!"

"OH COME ON!" Natsu yelled, standing up. "No way! Find your own house!"

"Shut it you stupid pyro!" The hall was quiet as Gray sat down, he and the salamander staring daggers at each other.

"Lucy Heartfilia." Bunny girl walked up to the stage next, smiling with embarrassment. I already had a feeling where she'd be going.

"There's no doubt about it. You're incredibly loyal, but your defining trait is that you are brave. You will stand up even when you have no fight left. Gryffindor!" She bounced along to her table, as usual, her large chest was attracting more attention than her face. Typical. Who cared about boobs anyway? Levy didn't have them, and she was way cuter that-wait, what?!

"Fried Justine."

"Ravenclaw! You are loyal to your guild and your friend, but your intelligence is undeniable." The greenete nodded, taking his seat.

"Juvia Lockser!" Juvia ran up, and I watched with interest, wondering if she'd be with me. I knew her better than the rest of them, after all. She sat down and immediately began pleading with the hat.

"Please put Juvia with Gray-sama! Juvia will do anything!"

"And it is exactly that trait of loyalty that will place you in Hufflepuff!" Juvia seemed to lose her energy, walking sulkily to the yellow table and putting her head down. I could hear conversations around the room about how odd we were already...they had no idea.

"Wendy Marvell."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Levy Mcgarden." I watched as the shrimp took her seat. There was no question of where she was going. Levy was too much of a genius to be anywhere but Ravenclaw. NOT THAT I TOOK THE TIME TO NOTICE OR ANYTHING! But it was pretty obvious.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Shocker." I grinned under my breath.

"Gajeel Redfox." I stepped up, kind of hoping to get into Ravenclaw as well, but that was unlikely. I wouldn't say that I'm dumb, but compared to Fried or Levy... I didn't stand a chance. The hat was weird, its words almost seemed to echo inside my head.

"I see. Well then, Mr. Gajeel. You're smart, but not a scholar, I would say. Loyalty and bravery are both very definite traits. That much is clear as day. A common trait among you Fairytail wizards, it seems. But the things that you've done...although you're still trying to purge yourself of darkness, you've done some unforgivable things. Slytherin it is!" I felt a black wave of guilt roll in my gut, slinking over to the Slytherin table. I could feel my face burning with shame. The hat was right. No matter how hard I tried...I'd never be rid of the things that I've done. I glanced at Levy who looked away from me, making me feel even worse.

"Erza Scarlet."

"Again, so much bravery and loyalty. You truly are an interesting group. Better be Gryffindor!"

"Mirajane Strauss."

"Okay. Now YOU come as a surprise! You are ridiculously sneaky when trying to form couples...but at the same time you're loving and kind. Still... Slytherin!" Mira took a seat next to me with some surprised looks from other people around the hall, her bright smile deceiving.

"Lisanna Strauss."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Bixlow."

"Slytherin!"

"Evergreen."

"Ravenclaw!" And just like that, we were sorted. I continued to think over what the hat had said. It bothered me a lot. It really did. I heard my name called ery faintly and looked up to see Levy looking at me. She gave me a small smile as if to say that I shouldn't worry about it. I felt it again. I didn't know what it was, but there was something about that smile. I wanted to keep seeing it. Every minute of every day forever.

I was pulled from my thoughts as Dumbledore spoke again.

"Also joining us from Fairytail are professors Alberona, Dreyer, Strauss, and Professor Dreyer senior." Cana, Laxus, Elfman, and Makarov all stepped forwards in turn. There were murmers about how Cana was obviously drunk and half naked in her bikini top. I heard some girls talking about how "handsome" Laxus and Elfman were. Go figure. "Make sure that you treat them with respect! Let the feast begin!" Food appeared all around us and I filled a plate, quiet for once.

"Why have I never heard of Fairytail academy?" A boy with white blonde hair asked rudely.

"When it becomes your business, you'll be the first to know." I snorted, taking a bite. The cooking wasn't as good as Mira's, but oh well.

"I'm sorry for Gajeel." Mira said brightly. "He can be a bit antisocial."

"Hey!"

"I'm Mirajane, my friends call me Mira. Nice to meet you!" He looked at her like she'd dropped from space.

"Right." His eyes drifted downwards to her chest. I growled in my throat. Did the perverts ever go away? There was something about this kid. I came from Phantom lord, and could smell a slimeball from a mile away. This kid was just radiating bad vibes. I got real close into his face.

"Listen, kid. Don't piss me off. Don't look at our girls, Don't talk to our girls, don't think of our girls. Or there's going to be a problem. And we don't want a problem...do we?" I glared. He seemed to consider, fear flashing in his eyes before his look of smug arrogance returned.

"My father will be hearing about that threat." He said, glancing around the room at Erza, Lucy, Lisanna, and Evergreen, his eyes finally settling on Levy. "I don't take orders from anyone. Your school has some real pretty girls. Too bad that they're stuck with all of you ugly ass guys. I'll have to show them what Hogwarts men have to offer." He smirked. I felt a knot clench in my stomach.

This kid had no idea what he was getting himself into.

and If I had to put him six feet under to make him understand...

so be it.

**Hello, Minna! So here's the newest chapter! I hope you like it! And I'm taking requests for what pairing that you'd like the next chapter to focus on. This one had a bit of GaLe, and in the next chapter, they're going to meet the golden trio. And the staircases are going to be Natsu's worst enemy. Could Pansy Parkinson try to make a move on the sexy new Ancient Runes professor? Could perhaps Draco grope Lucy? Who knows? I'll try to update tomorrow if I can. Vote for a pairing focus! Ciao!**


	6. Things in common

**Hey, guys! Thanks so much for all of the support that I'm getting! Glad that you like it! I'm really sorry for all of the grammar mistakes in the last chapter. I was half asleep when I was writing. I barely finished. So keep up the reviews! Since I had no votes for who this chapter will focus on, it'll remain a mystery! Enjoy! **

Chapter 6: Things in common

Natsu's POV

"Guys look! This food just appeared out of nowhere!" I marveled, drooling a little bit.

"Well yeah. It always does that." I looked over at three kids that were eating together. A girl and two guys. "I'm Hermionie, by the way." She kept on staring at me. I stared back. If she wanted a staring contest, she'd get one. Eventually she seemed to get confused and looked away. I won.

"Pleased to meet you, Hermionie!" Lucy said happily. "I'm Lucy. This is Natsu, Gray, and Erza."

"Pleasure. This is Harry, and Ron."

"Why is your hair pink?" This kid asked rudely.

"Why is your hair orange?"

"It's red!"

"And mine is salmon!" I snorted. "Pink is a girly colour. I was born this way. Igneel never had a problem with it! He thought it was cool!" I said proudly. They stared at me blankly.

"Er...Igneel is Natsu's foster dad." Lucy explained. They nodded in understanding.

"Well... Glad to meet you anyway. My name is Harry, as Hermionie said." So this was the kid that Dumbledore told us about.

"Cool." The stripper grinned. Their faces blanked as they stared at him.

"Gray, your clothes!" Mira called from across the room. I started to laugh, so did a bunch of the other guys. What an idiot! But then I noticed the girls staring at him.

"Gray-sama, you're so dreamy!" Juvia called as he pulled his pants up. He was grumbling the whole time.

"Stupid habit..."

"Habit?" The three exclaimed. Erza sighed.

"It's a long story. May I ask about the sleeping quarters?

"Uh...sure...I guess." Harry turned to look at her. "Each of the houses has a common room somewhere in the castle. We can show you to ours. Then, leading out of the common room Are staircases leading to the dormentories."

"So does this mean that we all get to sleep together? I call sleeping with Lucy!" I said excitedly, throwing my arm over her shoulders. She shrieked and blushed for some reason as people looked over. I grinned. "It'll be just like back home!"

"NO WAY!" She smacked my in the back of the head. It didn't really hurt, but I gave her puppy eyes still.

"But Lushiiii!"

"NO!" She glared. "And I don't invite you! You sneak in through the window!" Harry, Ron, and Hermionie watched us with shocked expressions.

"Your school lets you sleep in the same bed as your girlfriend?" Hermionie gasped.

"I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

"Calm down, Luce." I rolled my eyes. "You're getting all worked up over nothing."

"He's right, Lucy." Erza reasoned before turning to the trio. "They're just friends."

"Oh. Sorry, but by the way you acted I just thought..."

"It's fine." Lucy sighed, shaking her head. I watched her hair as it swayed from side to side. It was really pretty...Like sunshine. Or things on fire.

"Anyway, that'd be impossible, Natsu." Hermionie glanced at me. "The girls dorms are protected by magic so that boys can't get up there."

"Why?"

"Because of perverts like you!" Lucy snapped. I knew that she didn't mean it...hopefully. I wasn't a pervert! I only saw her once! But then there was that other time...and then when I tried to look at her in the shower during the grand magic games...and when I accidently groped her when we were fighting the dragons...and- I'm not a pervert, okay?

"I'm not a pervert." I sulked, eating my troubles away from the huge assortment of food in front of me. Then it was so good that I kept eating. And kept eating. And kept eating.

"Bloody Hell...He eats even more than Ron!"

"It's really good. Not as good as Mira's, though." I said through a mouthful of turkey. I offered a drumstick to Lucy. "Want some?"

"I'll pass." She said flatly with a sigh. I shrugged.

"Does he have a hollow leg?" Harry asked.

"No idea. Trust me, he's just warming up. He'll eat you out of house and home if you let him." Gray rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Jackass." I grumbled, moving on to dessert as the main meal disappeared.

"You looking for a fight?" He snapped, jumping up. I laughed, also getting to my feet.

"With you? Any day! I'm fired up now!"

"Sit down, boys." Erza glared at us. "We are guests here. Be respectful."

"Aye!" I squeaked, sweating a little. Ron started laughing.

"Does Erza always push you around like that?"

"Always." Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes.

Levy's POV

I smiled at Gajeel reassuringly. It was cruel of the hat to call out his shortcomings. Gajeel had saved my life so many times, that I honestly couldn't picture him hurting me anymore. Yeah, he was cunning, and the hat could have said that to put him in Slytherin! Why call out everything that he wasn't proud of? I forgave him a long time ago... but he needs to forgive himself.

"He seems quite nice, you know." I glanced over to see a blonde girl staring into empty space. She looked at me after a minute, but it was like she was looking through me. "That Gajeel fellow? He doesn't seem all that mean. There's a certain...hardness to him, but I don't know. You can't judge a book by its cover, right?" I smiled.

"Right. And you're right. He's actually quite nice once you get to know him." I giggled. She nodded and opened a magazine. the pictures were moving!

"That's a...um... nice magazine you've got there..."

"It's called the Quibbler. My dad is the writer."

"Really? That's so neat!"

"Would you like a copy?"

"Oh yes please!" I opened it to the first page, wanting more than anything to have my wind readers, but they were still in my bags... Oh well. I sneaked one more glance at Gajeel. Hang in there. I swear, it won't be so bad. I'm here for you.

**Sorry it's short! I have to go to kickboxing! Review, vote for what pairing you want focus on in the next chapter!**


	7. A little loyalty goes a long way

**I did it! I finally finished the Fairytail manga! Oh my gods, it took forever! But now I'm all caught up! Okay, so here we go on with the next chapter. Love to hear feedback!**

Chapter 7: A little loyalty goes a long way

Wendy's POV

I stood off to one corner of the room quietly. The Hufflepuff common room was nice in general. There was a warm fire in the hearth, couches all around the room along with easy chairs, and it all just came with a warm atmosphere. but I felt really out of place. It just wasn't Fairytail, you know? Juvia sat on the floor next to me sullenly, pulling her knees in.

"Juvia wanted to be with Gray-sama." She pouted. Romeo patted her on the shouder.

"It'll be fine, Juvia! You've got us! Right?"

"B-but Gray-sama-"

"Will be fine. Romeo's right. We're your friends too, and we'll find the time to see them." I said gently, crouching next to her. "You'll still see him between classes and stuff, maybe you'll even get patrol duty with him." My voice dropped to a whisper.

"Do you think so?" She seemed to brighten instantly. "Juvia...alone with Gray-sama for a long time!" I could see the hearts dancing in her eyes. I sighed. She only ever had one thing on her mind, didn't she?

"We may even have some classes with them, who knows?" Romeo shrugged with a smile. "We'll see Natsu-nii and the others so often that it'll seem just like the usual!"

"Yeah! Big brother Elf and Mira will surely take time out to see us too!" Lisanna said happily.

"Of course...uh..." A slight pink tinge rose to Romeo's cheeks. "I wouldn't mind spending some time with just you while we're here, Wendy." I smiled brightly.

"That sounds like fun!"

"If you don't want to then-...really?"

"Yeah! Of course!" I giggled as a voice spoke from behind me.

"So you're the newbies, huh?" I looked over a an older guy wearing the yellow robes of Hufflepuff. He looked somewhat athletic with short hair and a kind expression. "I'm Cedric."

"Pleased to meet you!" Lisanna said kindly. "I'm Lisanna, this is Juvia, Romeo, and Wendy." We all waved in turn.

"So Fairytail, eh? I've never heard of it."

"It's pretty low key. We try to stay off the grid, keep quiet, you know?" Romeo laughed. I was trying not to laugh myself at the fact that "Fairytail" and "Low key" had been used in the same sentence. Oh well. Pretty soon, they'd probably figure out that it was a lie. It didn't take long with Fairytail wizards to realize that!

"I see. Are your classes the same as ours?"

"Erm..." I couldn't really think of what to say. We weren't even a school!

"Juvia thinks that they might be slightly different." The rain woman said. He looked at her with confusion. "Before you ask, Juvia always speaks in third person." She added. He nodded.

"Okay then." He shrugged. "Accepting people for who they are is part of what it means to be loyal. And as long as you're loyal, you'll never be alone. Right?"

"Right!" I grinned. If only he knew. Fairytail thrived on loyalty, the trust between comrades and friends that we all shared. The trust that we had in each other. "A little loyalty goes a long way!" He ruffled my hair.

"Now then, you guys'll fit in just fine here! The girls dorms are that way if you want to get settled in. Your stuff should be there by now."

"Thank you Cedric. I may go to bed, it's been a long day." I began walking before waving over my shoulder. "Goodnight, Romeo!"

"Goodnight, Wendy." He grinned. I walked up the stairs and found my bed, falling asleep as soon as I flopped down on the puffy yellow and black sheets.

Laxus's POV

The teacher's lounge was nothing fancy, just a bunch of chairs around tables and stuff. There were notes here and there, and an owl In the corner that kept on staring at me. The teachers from Hogwarts, and the headmasters of the other schools seemed curious, yet wary of us.

"Where is Fairytail...exactly." I looked over boredly at a huge woman who was from Bow...something or other girls school. She was very tall, and loomed over everyone with short cropped hair.

"I would like to know as well." A man with a black beard sniffed. They both had weird accents... "W have never heard of this Fairy nonsense before!" I glanced over at gramps who seemed as unintimidated as I felt.

"None of your damn buisness." I grunted, pulling my I pod from my coat and scrolling down the playlist.

"Well I never!" The lady exclaimed. "Such a rude young man!"

"Whatever, lady."

"Laxus, be nice to this woman."

"Whatever, old man." I rolled my eyes, tempted to give the old man the finger. Cana threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Lighten up, Laxus!" She laughed, her cheeks already red.

"Get off me, you crazy drunk." I grumbled. "Go drink your booze."

"Kaaaay!"

"Does she drink like that...often?" Professor Mcgonogal asked.

"Cana can hold her liquor like a real man!" Elfman stated proudly. I wonder if the big oaf eve realizes that Cana is a girl...oh well, not my problem. I put my headphones on and began blasting music. making it almost too loud for a normal person. Add my dragon-like ears to that, and I couldn't hear a thing that they were saying anymore. Finally. No lectures from the old man, no interrogations from the other teachers, no listening to the big buffoon yell "Man". Just me and my thoughts...which quickly took a turn for the worse. As my mind began to wander, a certain girl kept on coming to the foremost of my thoughts.

_"Come on, Laxus!" Mira called, dragging me through the streets. "You promised that you'd watch the sunset with me!" I could hear music and cheering behind us. _

_"But what about the festival?! Don't you have to be in the Fantasia parade?" I asked in confusion. _

_"Well... Normally, yes. But I told Master Makarov that I wanted to watch it with you this year!" She smiled brightly, the smile that could light even the darkest night. "And I want to see the sunset before the parade starts! It's always the prettiest during the fall festival!" _

_"Wait...alone? Just you and me?" _

_"Well of course, silly! I wouldn't want to spend a romantic evening with Lisanna and Elfman watching!" She giggled. I slowly began to grin widely. _

_"Seriously? That sounds..." _

_"Wake up, Laxus!" She sang, giggling at my shocked expression. _

_"Huh?" _

"Wake up, boy!" I jumped up with a start, the old man yelling into my ear.

"OW! What the Hell was that for, old geezer?!" I growled, holding my head in pain. He sure can yell.

"Oh quit being such a little kid. If you can listen to your music that loud, you call deal with my wake up call!"

"Shut your trap, Gramps!"

"Don't talk down to me, boy!"

"That's going to be tough since you're so short!" I snapped. "Damn you, I was dreaming!"

"Then you can go and dream in your bed like a big boy! Or would you like Grandad to read you a bedtime story?"

"You're pushing it!" I growled, clenching my fists. Around my neck, my headphones sparked a little.

"No. You're over reacting. As funny as it was to scare you out of sleep, that's not the reason that I woke you."

"If you're going to ask me to keep an eye on Natsu, you can go to Hell."

"No, that's not it. Everyone else will find out tomorrow, but you should see it now. You're going to need to speak with them yourself." He said grimly. I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers.

"Just tell me what you WANT! I'm tired!"

"I want you to speak to an old friend."

"Another one? I swear-"

"Don't interrupt me. This person has some valuable information to this mission that you cannot share with any of this world's wizards."

"Do you wanna just tell me what's going on?"

"We have a visitor."

**OOOOOH! Who could it be?! I personally ship FRAXUS, but by popular vote, MIRAXUS will be included in this. Sorry for any grammatical errors, but I am rushing once again. It's a busy week for me. Keep the reviews coming! I love to hear what you have to say! Peace out! :)**


	8. Secrets and lies

**Hey, guys. Here's a brand new shiny chapter for you! Okay, I lied, it's not shiny... I'M SORRY! I BETRAYED YOUR TRUST! but at least now you get to find out who our mystery person was! Right? Review again! Happy to hear your feedback! **

Chapter 8: Secrets and lies

Laxus's POV

"Are you serious, old man?"

"Mmh. Show respect." He said, folding his hands behind his back.

"You dragged me out here in the middle of the night for this?!"

"Hi, Laxus!" I glared at the old man as a small girl sat in a tree on the edge of the forest, swinging her bare feet. No older than thirteen with long wavy blonde hair.

"First Master Mavis has apparently decided to accompany us."

"Oh you think?" I asked sarcastically. "But why drag me out of bed for this?"

"You weren't in bed." He argued. "You were in a chair in the middle of the room."

"Whatever, old man." I grumbled. "Is there any point to this? What's so important that it had to be done this late?"

"I'm sorry for waking you, Laxus." Mavis said, losing her air of playfulness. It reminded me of when she was explaining the strategy for the Grand Magic Games. "But this really is important. There's something that you really need to know. When one of us is chosen for the tournament, you MUST NOT let them compete in any of the events alone. Do you understand me?" She asked in a dead serious voice. I blinked.

"Care to explain?"

"We need the precaution. There are death spells that these dark wizards use. We need to have at least two wizards to watch each other's backs. You're an exceptional wizard, and a dragonslayer. I need to you to watch over the younger ones. They could get into trouble."

"You're not telling me everything." I said suspiciously, noticing her tone. "You already have an idea of who's competing, don't you, first?"

"I have a guess. Just a hypothesis, but it may very well come to pass."

"And you can't tell me because...why?"

"I'm telling you as much as I can. I have more to tell you. There is an imposter among the teachers."

"An imposter? How do you know?"

"…"

"Right. So what do I do about it? Do you know who it is?"

"I do, but if I tell you, then you may accidentally portray suspicion and sacrifice the mission."

"I understand. Trust no one, then?" I asked, tilting my head. She nodded gravely.

"Right. Also, I have a spell that I need you to cast. It'll remove the age line around the goblet of fire for our comrades only."

"Is that all?" I asked, honestly quite exhausted. Thanks, old coot.

"For now. I'll be around, keeping an eye on you guys and finding out what I can. See you soon. Thank you, Laxus." She nodded in acknowledgement and I returned the gesture, bowing respectfully before heading back up to the castle.

Mira's POV

"Wow! This room is so interesting!" I gushed, as the green light from the moat reflected off the walls. "But the skulls totally ruin it..."

"I dunno, I think that the skulls would be fun to play with!" Bixlow grinned, sticking his tongue out.

"Let's play! Sounds fun!" His dolls chanted. I glanced over at Gajeel who looked a little gloomy...Well...gloomy-er.

"You okay?"

"Fine. Why?" He looked at me with a 'buzz off' expression. I could see that he was thinking about something. Could it be Levy?! Did I sense romance in the air?! Oh I hope so. They obviously have feelings for each other! The white-blonde haired blonde from earlier walked up to me.

"Hello. I don't believe that we were properly introduced at dinner. My name is Draco. Draco Malfoy." He offered his hand to shake. I smiled and shook. How polite!

"I'm Mirajane! It's nice to meet you!" I laughed.

"Perhaps we should spend some time together over the next little while. I'd love to...get to know you."

Bixlow slung his arm around my shoulders to Draco's obvious distaste. "Hey! We should all hang out, huh? Beat friends! We could make friendship bracelets! Right, babies?" He laughed. His dolls all imitated him.

"Friends! Fun! BFF'S!" They cheered. I giggled at their silly antics. They were so cute!

"Er...I was thinking more just me and Mira..." He grumbled. "Ignorant fool." Bixlow got in real close to his face and took off his mask.

"I know exactly what you meant, kid. Back off." His eyes glowed dark green and Draco paled.

"Bixlow! Be nice!" I scolded. I of course knew what Draco had been getting at, but I would never let him do anything! It was no different than when Macao or Wakaba were being perverted. Besides...there was already somebody that I was trying to get to notice me... Nevermind. "I would love to hang out with you sometime. Perhaps you could spend some time with Elfmas, Lisanna, and I." I suggested.

"You mean...professor Strauss? Is he your father or something?" He asked rudely I was about to say that he was my baby brother when I remembered that he was supposed to be way older.

"Oh...no. He's Lisanna and my older brother." I grinned. His jaw dropped.

"That giant goon is your brother?" He spettered. I frowned.

"That's not very nice. He's not a goon really. He's actually pretty sweet! But yeah, he's my big brother."

"Big is an understatement." He rolled his eyes. True enough. I glanced at the clock. It was getting late.

"I may go to bed. It was nice meeting you, Draco!''

"You as well. I hope that we can spend more time together." He smiled back. There was something creepy about it as Gajeel clenched his fists and Bixlow's arm tightened around my shoulders.

"Right...Um...Bixlow, you can let go now."

"Right, sorry, Mira." He let go quickly and took a step back. "Night, she devil." He grinned at me, winking. I smiled back at the goofball..

"Goodnight, Bixlow. Goodnight, Gajeel." I waved. Gajeel vaguely waved back.

"Yeah. Goodnight, see you tomorrow." He said, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere as I climbed the girls stairs. I opened my trunk when I got upstairs and set a photo on my nightstand. I wanted to make the room feel more homey. Then I changed into a loose t-shirt and pants for pj's, earning a few admiring looks from the other girls in the room. I sighed as I shut out the light. What a strange place. I wonder if anything exciting will happen tomorrow?

**There we go! Another chapter! I' rushing once more, (geeze, I'm busy!) But I will try to make the next chapter come sooner! Reviews are always welcome, and I just want to confirm with y'all, HarryXErza, or JellalXErza? I just wanna be sure. Please leave your vote in the comments. Bai!**


	9. So be it

**Hi, guys. Sorry that I didn't post a chapter last week. I was...busy. Yeah, totally not choosing Supernatural over writing fanfiction! ha ha...ha. Okay, so just saying, I really like Ultear's character. so in my world she's alive and well. Deal with it. Also, I don't know how to pronounce/spell Meredy/Meldy, so don't judge me and don't correct me. I hope you all enjoy the chapter as you find out the wiener of the who ships Erza with who vote. Here we go! **

Chapter 9: So be it

Ultear's POV

"Ultear! Ultear!" I looked up to see Meredy running towards me, her face pale and panicked. She was panting as though she had run a long distance.

"Meredy, what's wrong?" I asked, jumping up and catching her as she fell to her knees. I gave her a drink from a water bottle, waiting until she could speak.

"I...was... *cough* I have sources in the...Earth world. The one where...Fairytail is undercover..." She panted. I frowned in confusion.

"But what does that have to do with anything? Did something happen to Erza and the others?"

"No...Not...Yet..." My heart went cold. Yet. I could feel my stomach knot.

"Meredy... What do you mean 'not yet'?"

"Zeref... Zeref is..." She took a few more deep breaths. "Zeref is on Earth...to kill Voldemort." My eyes widened.

"Wha-what?! But why would he-"

"Fear. If he can kill the person that they fear the most, he becomes all powerful. I suspect that he is going to kill Voldemort and bring his followers here to assist in our destruction. There is power...in numbers."

"We have to alert the guild! They will need our information. on Zeref, we can help them!"

"It's being handled." She said confidently.

"No, you didn't!" I gasped. No way, Meredy would never! He'd be a loose cannon with Erza around!

"Erza is in danger. I did the only reasonable thing. I told Jellal." She smiled softly. "You know that he'd go as soon as he found out."

"But if his feelings cloud his judgment-"

"You trust him, don't you? We just have to trust that he will do what is best."

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath. "He has his communication lacrima?"

"Well...yeah, why?" She looked at me nervously.

"Because he's going to get a scolding that he will never forget." I said darkly as Meredy shifted uncomfortably. "And you're going to set up a sensory link for punishment."

"Oh... Oh no..."

Hermionie's POV

"Right. I've looked through every book on magical education in the library and I can't find any record of any Fairytail Acadamy of magic!" I huffed, slamming a book down in front of Ron and Harry in the common room.

"Bloody Hell, Hermionie. We only got here yesterday and you've already-"

"Don't question it, Ron. " Harry sighed. I glared at the pair. "Do you not find it even slightly suspicious that your scar started hurting, then these people appear out of nowhere with no record of where they came from?! And why do they have that strange tattoo? It's not in any book on runes or ancient symbols and-"

"Exactly how many books have you read since we got here?!" Harry exclaimed, looking at me in shock. I blushed a little bit.

"Not many... But that's besides the point!"

"She does have something, I mean Dad never mentioned anything about them. I've heard of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, but not this one." Ron said thoughtfully.

"See? Even someone as boneheaded as Ronald can see that something is wrong with this whole situation!"

"Oi! At least I'm not a lame old git burying his face in a book all the time!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Can you two cut it out?" Harry rubbed his forehead subconsciously.

"Harry... I think you should talk to Sirius. Your scar hurting and these people appearing...I don't think it's a coincidence. You know that he'll want to hear about it." I said uncertainly, sitting in an armchair across from the pair.

"I'm fine, Hermionie." he said irritably it's just a little headache."

"Except it's not! If you don't write to him, I will!" I threatened, giving him a death stare. He flinched under my steely gaze.

"Alright alright! I'll send a message to Sirius! Bloody Hell, Hermionie."

"Excellent. We have an early day of classes tomorrow, so I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow." I said, bouncing up and walking away. "You should too."

"She's scary when she gets like that..." I heard Ron grumble behind me. I clenched my jaw. That insufferable little-...

Mavis's POV

"Zeref..." I watched my old friend from a few feet away. We were in the mountains outside a small village known as Hogsmeade. He stared off into space sadly. I missed his smile so much...

"Mavis. I can sense your presence. Why are you here?"

"Because I have to be."

"You feel that it's your duty to watch over them, don't you? Your children. There was a time when I would have done the same. A time when I would have protected life. But now thanks to Grimoire Heart, those days are over."

"My friend, it doesn't have to be like that!"

"I know that you probably wish that things could be different, but this is a task that I must complete in order to release END."

"Please, Zeref! I beg of you, don't hurt them!" I pleaded, screaming myself hoarse, but of course he couldn't hear me. I am but a ghost. He glanced in my general direction, and sighed.

"I truly am sorry. I wish nothing more than to return to my peace on Tenrou Island, but the time for peace is at an end. It is time for war."

"You are not looking for solutions! You're just resorting to bloodshed! Please, Zeref! Hear my voice!" I cried, stretching out my hand to touch his face. His head snapped up and he touched his cheek over my hand.

"Mavis..." He murmured. "I heard you...It's been over one hundred years since I've heard you..." A tear rolled down the side of his face. "It was my fault that you died...I'm so sorry. But that's why I must do this. If I can cleanse the world, I can atone for my mistake. Of killing the only person I ever loved. I wish that I could embrace you. Tell you that everything will be alright. But I can't. Because that would be a lie. And we swore that we would never lie to each other. Of course... I also swore that I would never again become what you see now. But I'm doing all this for you. So that we can be together once again in death." I pulled my hand away and he shivered, seeming to feel the lack of warmth. My expression darkened. For there was a time when I loved him too. But no longer not when a decision to kill countless people was so easy for him. I took a deep breath. We would protect this world. And ours. Because we were the wizards of Fairytail.

"You are a fool, my friend made enemy. If it is war that you so desire. So be it."

**Thanks for reading, please review! I love all the feedback that I've been getting, and yes, I ship Mavis and Zeref 3 So I'll see you guys soon, bye, minna!**


	10. Maybe Maybe I love him

**Hi guys. So as you've probably guessed, I am trying to update on Wednesdays. Unfortunately I have a little bit of writers block at the moment, but at least I'm trying. Also, I keep getting distracted by a PokemonXFairytail fiction that I'm writing... Anyway, If I jump around a bit, that's why. **

**Lucy's POV **

Juvia's name erupted into blue fire once the piece of paper was put in the goblet. She skipped away happily to stand next to Gray who moved away a step with a scowl. Juvia didn't seem to notice. Then it was my turn.

"You know, I think I'm alright, really I'm happy leaving this to you guys." I protested, sweat dropping a bit. then I was being shoved forward from behind.

"Come on, Luce! We all did it, now it's your turn!"

"But Natsu! I'm not strong like you or Erza or Gajeel!"

"Then you've got nothing to worry about! Come on, put your name in, chicken!"

"NATSUUUUUUUU!" I whined. digging my heels in, alas my tall boots did no more than stall him as he plucked the paper from my fingers and tossed it in.

"Woohooo! Fairy tail will win for sure!" He grinned at me. I sighed, pressing my palm to my face. But I had to admit, with Erza, Natsu, and Mira in the runnings, how could we go wrong?

"Say, how can you put your names in anyway? You're the same age as us, aren't you? And Wendy can't be older than twelve!" Ron said sourly as we got back to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. I looked at him sympathetically. The master walked over from teacher's table to help us out.

"It's because our students are capable. It was the individual decision of the headmasters of each school to lay on the age limit. I felt that it wouldn't be necessary. I believe that each and every one of my children has the strength to pull this competition off safely. Therefore, Dumbledore kindly made an exception in the age line to all Fairytail students." He stated calmly. Ron seemed to consider before shrugging grumpily and going back to his breakfast. I forked some sausages onto my plate and a piece of toast onto my plate. To my disgust, Natsu was next to me eating with just his hands. Ew! But... He did look cute with that silly smile on his face between stuffing food and taking a break. Wait, what?! Woah woah woah, Lucy! He's your best friend, what are you thinking?! I blushed dark red.

"You alright, Luce? You look kinda flushed."

"I'm fine! What kind of dumb question is that?!" I shrieked. Natsu frowned.

"Geez, I was just asking." He shrugged, going back to scarfing down all the food he could hold. Thank goodness he wasn't the suspicious type... I turned to Hermionie instead, I wanted to get to know some of the people that we'd be living with for the time being.

"So, I've heard that this castle has a magnificent library." I began. Immediately her eyes lit up.

"Oh it's wonderful! There are shelves and shelves of books on everything! Books on spells and potions, mythical creatures, stories of fiction, even some books on the muggle world!" I started to get really excited. It sounded just like Grandpa Crux's library in the celestial spirit world! "I spend a lot of time there during the school year."

"That sounds so amazing! I actually want to become a writer myself, but I'm afraid I'm not very good..." I blushed, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Oh, Lu-chan don't be modest! Lu-chan's stories are the best!" Levy grinned, leaning over my shoulder. "Sorry for eavesdropping, but when I heard the word library, I couldn't resist!" She laughed. Hermionie smiled back.

"So you both like books? That'll be a change from Ron and Harry. I don't think they've read an entire book in their lives."

"Hey!" They protested.

"I'm not sure Natsu knows what a book is."

"Huh?" He asked, looking up.

"Nothing." I sighed. Levy giggled.

"I'm Levy McGarden by the way, nice to meet you." She extended her hand which Hermionie shook.

"I'm Hermionie Granger. I have a feeling that we'll all get along famously." She smiled. I laughed. We chatted on about our favourite authors for a bit until the great hall began to clear out. I began packing my things back up to head to my first class. Charms, apparently. Next to me, Natsu was still chowing down on his meal. Suddenly, his head snapped up like a bloodhound. He took a deep sniff of the air, earning some odd looks. He glanced around the room at Gajeel who looked steely eyed, Wendy who looked happy, but kind of nervous, and Laxus who looked smug. Then at Erza whose look of desperation was all the confirmation he needed. Suddenly, his head snapped up like a bloodhound. He took a deep sniff of the air, earning some odd looks. He glanced around the room at Gajeel who looked steely eyed, Wendy who looked happy, but kind of nervous, and Laxus who looked smug. Then at Erza whose look of desperation was all the confirmation he needed.

"Jellal." He exclaimed, eyes wide.

**Erza's POV **

It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. It had been a year since the last time I had seen the man before me. His dark blue hair swept away from his eyes to reveal the red tattoo. I glanced at the master to see if this was his doing, but he looked as surprised as I felt. Dressed in a simple black t shirt and a pair of black jeans was just so foreign to me... He looked like a normal teenager. Of course, his face was still solemn as usual, the sad look in his eyes making girls around the room swoon. He came to a stop at our table.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I missed the ride in, I had some stuff to sort out at home." He said quietly. I stared at him. What was he talking about?

"Vot is the meaning of zis, Dumbledore?" The Durmstrang headmaster Igor Karkarof demanded. "Who is zis boy?!" Dumbledore looked at Makarov with a slightly puzzled expression.

"He's one of ours. Was a bit sick when we left, so he must have apparated into Hogsmeade." He answered calmly. My mouth gaped as he took a seat next to me.

"I...You...How are you here?!" I hissed. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Something came up, I will explain later, but for the time being, I'm starving if you don't mind." He said in a tone that it was clear that he was actually asking my permission. I nodded and he began eating toast and eggs ravenously.

"You look so... Normal." I stated simply. No long cloaks, No fighting gear, just a normal nineteen year old boy. He chuckled softly.

"I dressed down for now. But I guess I can't say the same for you. Even in a school like this, you're still in your armor. You know that it's okay to have fun every now and then. You should try wearing clothes like this, much more flexible and comfortable."

"Are you giving me... fashion advice?"

He burst out laughing. "Yes, I suppose I am!" He seemed giddy for some reason. And that made me smile. Perhaps it was because He didn't have to hide here as he did in our home world. He wasn't on the run from authority here, he could show his true colours. But then... I could see his true colours now too. The entire time that I'd known him, he could never be himself. In the tower of Heaven as children, we were in constant fear of what would happen the next day. When I returned to the tower years later, he was under Ultear's spells. When I met hi for Nirvana, he was lost and confused, he didn't even know his own name. When I met crime sorciere, he seemed so much happier, but still he was on the run from the law, and weighed down from his own guilt. It had been like that for so long that I wasn't sure if I would ever truly know Jellal again... But seeing him now... It made me smile in a way that I hadn't in a long time. Perhaps this is the Jellal that I've seen fragments of in everything he had done since he was young with me in a cell in that tower... maybe... maybe this was the Jellal that I fell in love with.

**Oh Er-chan! You do love him so! I'm so proud of you! What ship do you guys want to see in the next chapter? Love the reviews and encourage you to keep them coming. Cast your votes in the comments below! Thanks for the support, everyone!**


	11. When anger explodes

**Alright, I am back for this week's chapter! I have had several requests for GaLe this chapter, so we're going to kick things off with Gajeel's POV! **

Chapter 11: When anger explodes

**Gajeel's POV **

"Come on, shrimp. How do you find words on paper so incredibly interesting?"

"Go. Away. Gajeel." She growled, hunching farther over the book that she was reading. I was looking over her shoulder down at the pages blankly. It was some book about people faulting their stars or something. Lame.

"Why do you like these stupid romance books anyway? It's not as if stuff like that actually happens."

"They are not stupid! Just because someone as thick headed as you could never be a romantic doesn't make it stupid! It just makes you really dense!" She snapped, giving me a death glare. I just crossed my arms. I was scared as hell by that look, but she didn't need to know that.

"Can you please either leave me alone or be quiet and read?" She sighed finally. I rolled my eyes, and sat down, thumbing through books about dragons until I found one without too many words... That lasted about ten seconds.

"There must be more interesting things to do than read. Come on, this is so boring."

"Shh. You really should be more quiet in a library! There are young minds trying to get lost in the land of books!" Came a voice from behind me that made me tense up. I turned to see no other than the sleeze bag himself, Draco Malfoy.

"What the hell do you want?" I grumbled, moving closer to Levy instinctively. There was something about this kid that rubbed me the wrong way. He practically reeked of... well... bad things. poison. He reminded me of a snake. Using hypnosis, or in his case charm, to lull his victims into a false sense of security.

"Gajeel, be polite!" Levy scolded. I scowled as she extended her hand to shake. "I don't think we've met yet, have we? I'm Levy McGarden."

"My name is Draco. Draco Malfoy." He smiled, taking her hand and kissing it. She blushed slightly and I clenched my teeth. You could just see the smugness in his eyes as though it was some huge accomplishment. Despite her blush, Levy kept on smiling.

"Pleased to meet you. So you're in Slytherin, then?" She asked, noticing his green robes.

"Yes. And might I say what a shame it was that we weren't put in the same house. We could have spent so much quality time together and become very close friends! After all, I do share your love of books."

Bullshit. I hadn't seen him pick up a single book in the last two days. With REAL readers like the shrimp and bunny girl, you always hear about what they've been reading!

"I'd still like to if that's alright. I always love talking about what's good to read." She grinned. He smiled back.

"It's a date, then." He grinned, hugging her quickly. Something broke inside my head. I felt a tidal wave of anger that I can't remember ever feeling before. My vision went red, and my body moved of its own accord. Next thing I knew, Draco was on his back on the floor several meters away, yelling in pain as he clutched what appeared to be both a bloody nose and a black eye. I felt cool hands on my arm and looked down to see a certain bluenette clutching my raised fist with a horrified expression.

"STOP IT, GAJEEL!" She shrieked. Fear in her eyes. I blinked in confusion and lowered my arm. "What was that?! Why did you hit him?!" She demanded, letting go and glaring.

"I don't... Know..." I mumbled, as confused as she was. I hadn't even known I was moving... I stared at my hands and when I looked up, Levy was helping Draco up.

"Come on, we'll go to the infirmary." She said gently, letting him lean on her. He just nodded in understanding as I walked over. She stared daggers into my eyes. Like she was piercing my soul. In a scarily Erza-like way she said in an eerily calm voice: "Gajeel Redfox, I don't want to see or hear from you until you're ready to apologize. That was mean, uncalled for, and embarrassing. Go and think about what just happened." With that she stormed out, Malfoy in tow. I stared at her back, feeling a strange pain.

"But I don't know what I did." I grumbled, walking out despite the stares of curious students, only catching a few scattered words from the hushed whispers that for a moment, the students could have sworn that my arm was made of metal.

**Lisanna's POV **

I stared off into the distance from the edge of the cliffs, sitting at the very summit while the breeze ruffled my hair. Waves crashed below me, and the grey clouds seemed to be aching to loose a storm on the students of Hogwarts. It was so nice up here, the salty sea air, the Beautiful view. I could have stayed there forever... but my lunch break was only so long. The morning classes had proved to be really interesting, but Juvia muttering about Gray throughout the entire class had kind of begun picking at my nerves. So much had been happening in just the first day...it was unbelievable! I met so many nice people, and the classes were cool, and Jellal showed up... just wow.

"Well, looks like out secret spot has been discovered, eh, babies?"

"Awwww. Boo hoo! Two can't keep a secret! No fair!" I turned to see Bixlow approaching with his small wooden dolls.

"Oh sorry. I guess I thought that I was the only one who would come here since it's so far from the castle."

"Nah. My babies and I found this little hideaway last night after sneaking out with the Rajinshou to meet up with Laxus. Quiet, ain't it?"

"Yeah. Pretty, too. I was thinking of maybe eating lunch up here sometime. Maybe have a little picnic, you know?" I smiled. He stuck his tongue out and laughed.

"Yeah, I guess this would be a good spot for something girly like that."

"Oh come on. Have you never had a picnic before? They're actually really fun if you'll just give it a try! Especially when Mira-nii does the cooking. We used to go out as kids all the time."

"Seriously? I could see Mira, but Elfman on a picnic? Ha!" He laughed for a while. I rolled my eyes. So many people forgot how caring and kind Big brother Elf was. He suddenly got very serious as though remembering something. "Oh yeah, We meant to tell you, Lissy, there's some blonde kid that seems to flirt with everything that moves, including your big sis." He seemed to see my skeptical expression and tried to convince me. "Not like Wakaba's flirting. You gotta understand, this kid is friggin creepy. Perverted."

"Like you?"

"Yes! Wait... No! Look, He went after Mira, he was staring at Lucy for a bit too long yesterday, just trust me on this one, okay?" He said. Could I detect a hint of concern in his voice? No way. Must be my imagination.

"Fine. I will steer clear of the blonde Slytherin boy. Happy?"

"Yeah." He grinned and began walking away. "I don't want other guys flirting with you."

"Yeah... WAIT, WHAT?! BIXLOW!" I shrieked, a dark blush on my face, he began laughing and running away as I chased after him.

**I included a little bit of Bixanna at the end because A: I needed a bit more content, and B: I had it requested as one of the ships to include in the story so eh, why not? The next chapter will probably be from Wendy's POV, keep those reviews coming as I love to hear what you have to say! Peace out y'all!**


	12. Skyfall

**Hi, guys! Here we go with a nice new chapter! **

**"Hey, Lauren?" **

**Go away, Gray. I'm narrating. **

**"But This vulcan is-" **

**TNMP. **

**"WHAT?" **

**Totally not my problem. Review, nice people. I have to help Gray take down a wyvern after this. **

**"LAUREN GET OVER HERE!" **

**Wendy's POV **

"Would you like some help, Wendy?" Hermione asked as I tried to reach a plant on a high shelf in the Herbology greenhouse. It was some sort of plant that we were harvesting the leaves from.

"Yes please. Thank you, Hermione-san." I said gratefully. It was hard being so short. I wish I was taller like Erza-san...

"No problem." She handed me the Carnava delioris plant that we were working with and I set it on the table, letting out a yelp as one of the leaves tried to eat my hand. The teacher, Prosessor Sprout, smacked the odd green with a riding crop and it let go. Romeo looked at me with concern.

"Wendy, are you okay?"

"Fine. It didn't bite me that hard." I assured him. Hermione took her spot next to me again. I had been paired with her for this particular lesson. Romeo was partnered with Ron, Erza and Harry were working together, Lucy and Natsu, Juvia and Gray who had stripped, Lisanna and another hufflepuff boy whom I think was named Delwin. I began scraping the mucus out of the mouth-like leaves of the plant and scraping it into a test tube.

"So you're entered in the Triwizard tournament? And you're in fourth year as well... How old are you, Wendy?" Hermione asked curiously. I blushed. It wasn't my fault I was younger.

"I'm twelve." I mumbled. I could see her eyes widen and I came up with a small fib. "Romeo and I got moved ahead because we were really good at magic. Master Makarov thought that we were ready to compete, so yeah, I'm entered." She stared at me in shock.

"You're so young to be doing something so dangerous!"

"I may be young, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable." I said confidently. I had held my ground against Chelia in the Grand magic Games. Just because I wasn't very old, or tall, or busty like Erza, Mira, and Lucy, that didn't mean that I wasn't strong! Honestly, I wanted Natsu-san to compete in the tournament. He was much stronger than I was. Even if I'm not weak, I know that I don't stand a chance against him. But did people really have to keep commenting on my height and age? Maybe I should cut my hair to make myself look older... hm. I think I'd look more mature with short hair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She apologized. " I just meant... well... People have gotten really hurt in this tournament in the past. I don't want to see you get hurt is all." I smiled brightly at her.

"You don't have to worry about me, Hermione-san. I trust that my friends will be there to support me if I'm in danger. And that's all I need." I said. She smiled back at me gently and we went back to our... Gardening? Sure, let's call it gardening. thought about what would be happening in the tournament. We didn't have an exact plan of action yet, but at least one of us would have to sneak in to help with each challenge. I clenched my fist. _I swear, you guys. No matter who is chosen, I'll use all my power to support you. To heal your wounds, give you strength, and to cheer you on with all my heart. _

…

After Herbology, it was time to scout. I went to my post at the top of the astronomy tower. I stared off the balcony, letting the wind tousle my hair. I stretched out my arms happily, feeling like I was flying. I felt someone's hands on my waist from behind and recognized Romeo's voice as he began to hum some song from a movie lacryma that we watched once in the guild during a snowstorm. I think it was called Titanic. Some romance movie about a boat that hit an iceberg.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. That was just too perfect." He grinned and laughed. I giggled a bit.

"It was such a sad movie though." I said with a sigh. "The poor guy... did he really have to drown?"

"I know, I cri-…" He cut himself off with a slight blush. I raised an eyebrow.

"You what? Cried?" I giggled. He blushed.

"What? No. I don't cry at girly stuff like that, what're you talking about. If Natsu-nii didn't cry, I sure didn't."

"Natsu DID cry." I laughed, sitting on the railing and swinging my feet as I watched the grounds from so high above.

"He did?" He asked, wide eyed.

"Mhm!" I smiled and sighed. "Doesn't everything just look so small from up here? It makes me feel weightless. High up in the air."

"Maybe it's because you're a sky dragonslayer? Natsu-nii feels at home in the heat, Gajeel hangs out in scrap yards, Rogue-san likes sitting in the shade, and Sting-san likes to be in the sun."

"That could be it." I shrugged, smiling softly. "The sky is just so free. Grandina would always tell me how at home she felt in the open air. I did too. Whenever we would fly together, I felt so free." I sighed, feeling a little bit sad.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Romeo asked, leaning on the railing beside be and looking out.

"Yeah. Wouldn't you? Natsu-san told me how worried you were when your dad vanished on his mission a few years ago. How you would come to the guild daily for answers. Well it's like that, but I don't have anyone who can give me answers. The other dragonslayers are the closest thing I have to answers. That's why I wanted to meet Natsu-san so badly in the first place." I swung my feet in the open air, the weightlessness was bordering on unsettling. I played with my pretend wand, spinning it in the air and catching it again before it dropped suddenly. I reached forwards to catch it, and stretched too far. I slipped off the railing and my eyes widened.

"Wendy!" He yelled, stretching out his hand. I reached out and out fingers barely caught, I was hanging on by nearly nothing, barely even the tips of his fingers before even that slipped away.

"Romeo!" I shrieked, screaming as I began to plummet towards the hard packed earth ten stories below.

**Mwahahahahahahaha! Review!**


	13. Stars, Illusions, and Forgiveness

**Hey everyone. I hope y'all liked that cliffhanger. mwahahaha! So here's the newest chapter. Review please! **

**Erza's POV **

"Jellal. I don't understand." I said. Of all the people to be paired with on patrol... Oh well at least now I could get some answers. "Why did you come? You didn't say anything yesterday."

"I should explain to everyone, but I'll give you a rundown." His dark blue hair covered the tattoo on his eye. "...Zeref is on Earth." He said gravely.

"What?!" I gasped, eyes widening in shock. "But how did he get here?!"

"Evidently he found a small tear in the dimensional barrier like I did. The reason that I'm here is because I have researched Zeref for years. I have information that could be valuable."

"And yet you said nothing last night?!" I accused, "You laughed at dinner with the rest of us while hiding something like that?!" I glared at him. How could he? He glared back at me.

"Erza. I am a FUGITIVE back home. Maybe I found it nice to be away from all the constant worry for an evening! I could show my face, laugh, I didn't have to worry about who would see me! You don't know what it's like. You... Look. I wasn't hiding it from you! I just wanted to feel free for once!" He snapped before taking a deep breath and returning to his usual calm. "I apologize for losing my temper. That was uncharacteristic of me." Something moved, and I turned towards it. I could have sworn that I saw someone there, and began to worry. If someone had heard that Jellal was a criminal... I checked behind the shrubbery and found nothing. Nothing but an odd red beetle. I turned back to my...friend. Reluctantly.

"No, It is I who must apologize. I suppose I didn't consider how hard it must have been for you, and how liberating it must be to have no worries." I said, distracted.

"What's wrong, Erza?"

"I could have sworn... it's nothing. I'm still adjusting to this new place." I sighed. Rubbing my arms. "But the sooner we get home, the better. I'm worried about leaving the guild without a master... and in the hands of Maccao." I chuckled softly and he laughed along with me.

"It seems as though I'm not the only one who worries too much."

"No, I suppose not. But that's why we were friends as children, yes? We would both worry and worry and worry, so we would stress it out by talking to each other and finding solutions." I laughed gently. He smiled faintly.

"Yeah. Those were the bad old days, eh?"

"Hm. Yes." I nodded. "I am glad that you're here, Jellal. It makes me feel calmer to know that we have a powerful ally among us." I said, pulling him into a hug. He seemed to tense, his cheeks getting redder and I let go quickly. "My apologies. That was impulsive of me."

"No no! It's fine, Erza. You're just not thinking, right?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. I nodded, taking the out.

"Yeah. Sorry. My thoughts must be clouded, I didn't get much sleep last night. Nightmares." I closed my eyes for a moment.

_Mama! Papa! We have to go! We have to get out of here! The fire! Mama! Please open your eyes! Daddy! Please!_

_There is no freedom in this world! True freedom lies with Zeref!_

_You must leave here. You will never speak of this place again or your friends will die._

_SIMON!_

_I WILL RESURRECT ZEREF!_

_NOOOOOOO! Simon!_

"Erza? Are you alright?" Jellal shook my shoulder gently and I blinked, looking at him.

"What? Oh... yeah, fine."

"I asked what your nightmare was about." He said as though repeating it... which I guess he was. I sighed.

"You. And my parents. " I answered honestly. "Before you repented. It was when we were still in the tower and... It's nothing. That was long ago, right?" He looked away guiltily.

"I have not yet repented. I am dedicating my life to rid the world of the man whom I hurt you so much for. Until he is dead, My penance will never be paid. Not really." I looked him right in the eyes with a hard gaze.

"The fact that you're trying is enough for me to see you as a person. Not how I saw you in the past. When you finally understand that, everything will get better." He looked like he was about to say something before there was a flash of light and he was gone. Just like siegrain, his apparition. I couldn't help but wonder. Was he ever really here at all? Or was it all just a bad dream?

**Natsu's POV **

"LUUUUUUUUUUCCYYYYYYYYYY I'm boooooooooorrrrrrrrrreeeeedddd!" I whined, walking behind her. She had an irritated look on her face as she ignored me. " I can't even use magic! This is sooooooo boring!"

"Would you just shut up? We've been scouting for five minutes!" She scowled. Happy was perched on my shoulder since he couldn't use his wings. What kind of rule was that? If cats couldn't fly here, then what was the point? Did these people just carry their best friends everywhere?

"But I'm hungry too!" Dinner's in 20 minutes. You can wait that long." SHe sighed. I pouted.

"But I'm hungry now... Will you give me a piggyback ride?"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE HUNGRY!" She shouted with a deadly look in her eyes.

"Well yeah. But I'm also tired of all this walking." I shrugged. " And without food, I can't recharge."

"NO WAY!" She grumped. I wonder if Lucy woke up on the wrong side of the bed today... or maybe this was some crazy magical backup syndrome since she hadn't used magic for two days! Or maybe... Levy was telling me once that sometimes Lucy had 'girl days' Once a month when she was really really grumpy...

"Lucy, are you having shark week?" I asked curiously. She turned to stare at me with a confused look.

"Shark week?"

"That's what Ice prick calls it when you girls are grumpier than usual."

"Grumpier than usu- UGH! I CHOSE THE WORST SCOUTING PARTNER!" She exclaimed. Hm... Maybe the remark about shark week wasn't the smartest... But I don't get what I did wrong! I just wanted to know why she wasn't cheerful, fun Lucy like usual! It couldn't possibly be because I was ignoring her or something crazy like that, could it?

"I think Lushi is always having shark week." Happy whispered in my ear. I could see Lucy clench her teeth.

"Don't be rude, Happy. I think that my beautiful mistress is perfect any time of the month. Even shark week." Came a smooth voice that I recognized. I picked up the faint scent of lion and turned to come face to face with Loke's fist as it plowed into my face. I staggered back a few steps, scowling.

"Ow! What the Hell, man!" I yelled angrily. He just shrugged.

"You were making fun of my Lucy."

"His Lucy?" Lucy grumbled, sweat dropping.

"Well she's MY best friend, so I call dibbs on her being MY Luce!" I declared, setting my hands on my hips. "I've known her for longer!"

"You met her ONE DAY before I did!" He protested.

"And you were really mean to her for the first couple months of knowing here!"

"Well I-"

"AAAAANND!" I continued, not done yet. "I don't flirt with other girls like you did! So boom! My Luce!" I grinned, declaring myself he winner. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"You don't flirt with OTHER girls?"

Uh oh. Was flirting a bad thing? I didn't know what it was. People just said that Loke did it a lot... Was It a bad thing?... I bet Lucy's mad at me now.

**Levy's POV **

"C'mon, shrimp! Talk to me!"

"I have nothing to say to you. That poor boy was just being friendly and you punched him, Gajeel who does that?!"

"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?! I didn't even know that I moved! I just remember getting really really angry all of a sudden!"

"You sound like a girl on her period! I don't know what happened! I just felt happy, then sad, then really mad!" I mocked, scowling. He scowled back.

"I am not like that!" He growled, clenching his fists. "You're walking on the line, Shrimp!"

"So what? You'll punch me?! Defenseless boys aren't enough? Now you're going to punch woman too?" I accused. He glared at me.

"You know that I wouldn't. I swore that I'd never let anything hurt you ever again." He said, eyes as hard as steel. I looked back at him in confusion.

"You did?" I asked quietly. I never knew that he was so protective of his nakama.

"Yeah." He grumbled. "After the Phantom Lord thing was solved, you remember when Jet and Droy called me out on all my bullshit in the park? I let them hit me with whatever they had. Then Laxus came along. Jet and Droy were fine, but his magic was frying my insides when he hit me with it. I could barely even get up. Then... He shot at your stupid partners. They started to move, and I knew what would happen. You were so scared. I could see it in your face. That's when, before I knew I had moved-just like with draco- I had taken the attack. I remember all of that pain wracking my body, but my only thought was that I had almost hit you. And that made me angry. So angry that I almost attacked Laxus myself. That's when I swore. I had nearly killed you, so I swore that I would do absolutely everything in my power, even if I cost me my life to keep you safe. It was my fault that you hurt, so now it's going to be my fault that you're safe. Seeing Draco go for a hug like that triggered something in my subconscious. I honestly didn't intent to hit him." He finished cooly. I looked down, feeling a little bit guilty for thinking that he'd intentionally hurt a nice guy.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel. I had no idea..." I mumbled, feeling a knot in my stomach. I felt a large hand ruffle my hair and looked up to see him grinning at me.

"Don't worry about it, Shorty. Let's go-" His head snapped up and he suddenly grabbed my wrist, wrenching me along behind him, eventually swinging me up into his arms (despite my protests and blush) as he sprinted towards the castle at top speed.

**Oh dear. Whatever could be the matter, Gajeel? And did anyone catch the reference to the beetle? You will if you didn't.**


	14. Twin Dragons think so too!

**Hi, Guys. So some of you have been commenting that so far it's just been a lot of fluff. I admit that it's true, but I am trying to cover the fluff of like twelve different pairings, and I'm STILL missing some when I go back and check it over. I am trying o move on with the plot, but I'm also trying not to move the story along to fast and-…. Just remember that I'm only human, okay? ( Breaks into Kristina Perry) And I plead when I fall down! I'm only human! And I crash and I break down, words in my head, knives in my heart, you build me up and then I fall apart cuz I'm only humaaaaaaan! please review on this nice chapter that I wrote while singing along to Fall out Boy. **

**Chapter 14 **

**Wendy's POV **

"ROMEO!" I screamed, falling from the sky. I caught his fingers for half a second before slipping and plunging towards Earth. I only had time to think 'I'm going to die.' My entire laugh flashed behind my closed eyelids, all my time with Grandina, meeting Mystogan, Meeting Natsu, Joining the guild, my time in Cait shelter, everything. This was it. The end.

"Wendy!" Someone cried. My eyes flew open as Natsu, and Gajeel both jumped to catch me, their heads banging together and causing them to fall. They were both yelling at one another as they did. Somewhere, I heard Lucy and Levy screaming.

The ground was no more than two feet away when a flash of golden light caught my eye, "Heavenly body magic, Meteor!" and a warm pair of arms caught me. I clung tightly to my rescuer, shivering slightly. He panted a little bit from his speed magic. "Are you alright, Wendy?" Jellal asked me, voice full of concern. I could hear his heart pounding through his black muscle shirt.

"Y-Y-Yeah... I think so." I mumbled as he set me down. "Thank you, Jellal-san." Lucy ran up and hugged me.

"How did that happen?!"

"I just... I leaned too far over the balcony is all." I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. "I'm sorry to have worried you all..."

"At least you're safe." Erza said as she arrived. "You should be more careful. Had Jellal not heard you, you would have been killed."

"What about us?!" Gajeel demanded, gesturing to himself and Natsu. Erza gave them a death glare that made everyone take a step back as they sweatdropped in fear.

"You two SHOULD have caught her BEFORE Jellal stepped in." She said cooly. "Next time I won't be so forgiving if you focus more on being silly than saving your comrade."

"I don't think that's really what happened..." Levy said quietly to Lucy, sweatdropping as well. I giggled a little bit. It was true. I think that the two dragonslayers had simply made a mistake. Gray walked up along with Juvia and the rest of the group.

"We done scouting for today? The banquet's gonna start soon. Then we'll find out which one of us'll be winning this thing." Gray grinned, hands in the pocket of his jeans.

"Gray. Your shirt..." Lisanna said, averting her eyes politely. He just shrugged while Juvia watched him. I could've sworn that there were hearts in her eyes...

"I'll just take it off again."

"Because you're a pervert."

"Shut up, pinkie!" He snapped at Natsu, glaring while the rosette just laughed.

"Or what? You'll take your pants off too?"

"I can't BELIEVE I have to share a dorm room with you!" Gray growled.

"Is there a problem, boys?"

"NO ERZA!" They yelped, hugging then jumping away from one another. I laughed softly along with everyone else. Erza could be SCARY sometimes. But we all knew that she could be subdued with strawberry cake.

"We still haven't discussed what we'll do for whoever gets picked. I mean, we can obviously rule out the cosplayer-"

"HEY!" Lucy glared at Bixlow, her eyes shooting daggers. He just laughed and continued.

"I don't think that Levy or Wendy will get picked, no offense."

"None taken." I said with a smile. Levy nodded in agreement.

"Erza, Gajeel, Natsu, Gray, or Mira are probably the most obvious choices since they're so strong." Bixlow reasoned. "Laxus can't compete because he's a teacher, so that rules him out."

"Strong! Demon! Swords of fury!" His dolls chanted.

"Because we won't know the challenges until they are assigned, it'll be near impossible to make any kind of plan except to have certain wizards help where their magic will apply." Cana said with a bit of a drunken slur. "I can try to use my cards to predict what we're up against"

"That's a good idea, Cana. Lu-chan and I can look in the library for tasks that have been done in the past." Levy grinned, putting her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"If we work together as a guild, we can pull this off. Freed, look into defense runes. Juvia, work on any water based skills that you can use to assist others." Erza said, giving out instructions.

"Juvia will." Juvia said. Erza continued to give out instructions until everyone had a job. And unless they wanted the Knight on their tails, they would all do their jobs.

"Do you all understand?"

"Aye sir!" We all yelled. She grinned.

"Wonderful. This will be a piece of strawberry cake!" She laughed. Then we all turned as a noise caught our attention.

"…...Fro thinks so too."

**Sting's POV **

"What's up, bitchez?!" I grinned. "Long time no see!" I glanced over at Natsu and the others. Their faces were priceless!

"Sting. Please try to contain your excitement." Rogue sighed, setting Frosche down on the ground. The exceed ran over to Gajeel and hugged his leg. The guy looked pretty uncomfortable, but at least he didn't kick him away.

"Sting? How did you..." Lucy asked. I looked over. She had a nice rack as always. Then her eyes widened as she saw my right shoulder. They all did.

"Sting where did you get that?!" Mirjane gasped as they all saw the white symbol of Fairytail on my arm, and on Rogue's neck. Laxus's headphones sparked threateningly.

"If this is some kind of joke, we're not laughing. Did you join the guild?"

"Relax, Laxus." A gentle voice said. I grinned as the ghost of a small girl came to stand between Rogue and I. "The marks are temporary so that they can hear and see me while they're here."

"First master Mavis, what is this about?" Lisanna asked, obviously confused like the rest of them were.

"I assume that you've been informed of Zeref's arrival here?" She asked. By the uproar that followed, I assumed that they hadn't. With the exception of Erza and Mystogan, they were all arguing and shouting all at once. "Enough. Why he's here isn't important right now. What is important is that we need to be even more careful than we had originally thought. Therefore, as an added precaution I made the decision to give us even more manpower. It couldn't hurt. Therefore, Sting and Rogue, Frosche, and Lector have been made temporary members of Fairytail. Sting will be in Gryffindor like what we did with Jellal, and Rogue will be in Slytherin for his cunning."

"Of course, first master. As you wish." Erza said, bowing. Natsu walked up and threw an arm around my shoulders with a bright grin. "Sweet! This'll be awesome!" I gave him a fist bump with a grin of my own. Sweet, I'd be in Gryffindor with Natsu-san AND the blonde bombshell!

"Whatever." Gajeel grunted, looking at Rogue.

"Fro thinks so too!"

**Juvia's POV **

I took a sip of my water at the dinner table along with Wendy, Romeo, and Lissana, tapping my foot nervously. What if Gray-sama got picked for the triwizard tournament? Juvia heard that people got hurt in this event... What if her beloved Gray-sama got injured?! Would he... would Gray-sama et Juvia be his nurse? An image popped into my mind.

"_**Juvia? Are you *cough cough* Are you there?" **_

_**"It's okay, Gray-sama. Juvia is right here." **_

_**"I just want you to know that I *cough* Love you. I trus no one more to nurse me back to health than you." **_

_**"Oh Gray-sama!" **_

_**"Juvia?" **_

_**"Yes, Gray-sama?" **_

_**"Will you give me a sponge bath?" I could feel my face heating up at the thought. **_

_**"Yes, Gray-sama!" **_

"Juvia?" I was pulled from my dream by Wendy tapping my arm and pointing to the front where professor Dumbledore was preparing to give a speech. He spoke of how dangerous the tasks would be, and how only one courageous wizard would be the victor. Then the fire in the goblet turned red and shot a fluttering piece of paper into the air. Dumbledore caught and unfolded it before reading it out loud.

"From Durmstrang school of magic, Viktor Krum!" The hall erupted into clapping and cheering as a Russian looking man stood up and walked to the front, Shaking habds with the headmasters before heading into a back room. Next was the all girls school... If Gray-sama was chosen, he better not flirt with the girl from that school!

"The champion for beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour!" The woman at their table all clapped along with many of the boys as an exquisitely beautiful lady walked to the front and repeated what had happened with Viktor.

"From Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Cedric Diggory!"

"And finally, from Fairytail acadamy of magic, your champion shall be..." We all waited with bated breath as that tiny piece of paper fluttered into Dumbledore's hand. The tiny slip was in the shape of a dragon and flew on magical wings into his hand before unfolding. He read the name out loud and we all froze, gazes simultaneously turning to who had been chosen. They had to be wrong! Surely Erza or Mira were more qualified! But no. We all heard it loud and clear. The champion from Fairytail.

"Wendy Marvell."

**Hey, guys! Did I shock you? Didn't see that one coming, didja?! I added Sting and Rogue because I like them. Also, I ship NaLu, but I love love triangles! So, one sided StiCy. I considered GraTsu, buuuuuut, I ship Nalu more so whatever. Anyvay, Please leave your reviews in the comments below! Peace!**


	15. Five champions?

**Hey, guys. So I got like a three page novel on everything I'm doing wrong... That was depressing to read. Anyway, I've been busy with exams and a new story that I started called "Clash of the Genderbends". So here's a new chapter in any case. Hope you like it! Please leave reviews n.n **

**Chapter 15 **

**Laxus's POV **

We all turned to stared at the kid. She looked absolutely mortified. Hell, I could smell her fear from here. I carefully scanned the faces of the teachers. One of them was an imposter... Maybe their reactions would give away which one if they had somehow tampered with the goblet thing... I mean, no offense to the half pint, but next to the Demon Mirajane and Titania... And none of them were as strong as me, but of course I was teaching. Many of the professors looked surprised, a few were laughing under their breath. Unfortunately, none of their reactions seemed out of the ordinary. I looked back at the other members of Fairytail. All of them had wide eyes, staring at Wendy. Sting and Rogue also looked surprised.

"Why wasn't Natsu-kun chosen?" I heard Rogue whisper to Sting. I nearly burst out laughing. That dumbass get chosen? Please. But still, even Ever, Bixlow, and Freed would be a better choice than a little kid, right?

"B-B-But I-I... There must be a mistake!" She stammered, "Surely Erza or Natsu-"

"Yeah! Let me do it! I wanna fight stuff! I volunteer to take her place!" The fire idiot sprung up, waving his arm. Erza dragged him down with a death glare.

"Natsu Dragneel! It is not you place!" She yelled at him, clocking him over the head. "The master made it clear that the Goblet's decision is final!" She hissed as Wendy made her way to the front. She shook the hands of the headmasters and I nodded in her direction, not smiling, but trying to give at least a little bit of reassurance... Hey, I'm not made of stone, you know! I can be nice! She gave me a bright smile that would melt even the hardest of hearts, and stepped into the back room. The murmurs of the hall faded as Dumbledore began a new speech about how honor would be earned, a cash reward, blah blah blah. I wasn't really listening. Soon, however, he was cut off as the goblet flared red. My head snapped up. Something was off about the magic. It felt different from before, like the goblet was confused or something. It seemed almost hesitant to cough up a small slip of paper no larger than Natsu's brain i.e. The size of a peanut. Dumbledore reached up and caught it, his eyebrows creasing in confusion. This didn't look good...

"Harry Potter..." He mumbled, almost too low to be heard. Shit... It seems like keeping watch over this Harry kid was going to be harder than we thought... But with Fairytail is anything ever really easy? No. Of course not. I rolled my eyes and sighed. We would never catch a break it seemed. "Harry Potter?" He repeated a bit louder, the hall erupted into whispers. The Fairytail wizards just watched quietly, the ones in Gryffindor giving him a pat on the back. "HARRY POTTER!" The old man yelled angrily. Jeez was he ever like Gramps... Harry slowly stood, and began walking up. He was clearly uncomfortable.

"He's a cheat!"

"Cheater!"

"Just had to be in the spotlight, didn't you?"

"What a loser!" I heard kids yell from all around.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I roared. My headphones sparked along with my growing anger. The hall went silent. The teachers all moved one seat to the left nervously. It was clear that my outburst has freaked them out. I just couldn't STAND when people said shit like that. It was like when people were talking shit about Fairytail so long ago... I got so fucking mad that I almost destroyed Magnolia. Maybe I should take anger management classes... I heard laughter ring out and turned to see Cana holding a bottle and laughing her head off. She strolled right up to me and slung an arm over my shoulders. I resisted the urge to punch her, but shrugged her off.

"This guuuuy!" She laughed. "Come ooooon, we all know that you're just a big softie on the inside!" I glared at her.

"Walk away, Miss Alberona." I said threateningly. She held up her hands in defense.

"Fine. Be that way." She pouted. "Good job, Harry!" She grinned, giving him a slap on the ass as she passed. Ugh, did she have no boundaries? Judging By Harry's blush, she'd given him a pinch too. The hall was still glaring daggers at Harry's retreating back. All the headmasters looked tense. I grabbed his arm as he passed me.

"Good luck, kid. You'll need it." I said quietly, letting go so that he could join the others.

**Wendy's POV **

Everybody kept on staring at me in the back. I didn't understand why I'd been chosen! So many Fairytail wizards were stronger than me! It didn't make sense! I resisted the urge to cry. I wouldn't make Fairytail look weak. I'd win this for our guild. Even if it wasn't our mission, we had a reputation to uphold!

"Wendy, how is it zat you could put your name into ze goblet of fire?" Asked the beauxbatons champion, Fleur. She had an odd accent and kept looking down her nose at me.

"Um...Um..." I mumbled, not sure how to explain.

"I would like to know also." Viktor said, surprisingly kind for a tougher looking man. He also had a heavy accent that I couldn't place.

"Lay off her, guys. Does it really matter? We'll all be fighting the same battle here. it's not like she has some weird magic advantage over us or something." Cedric said defensively, coming to stand beside me. He had a calming presence, I felt my shoulders relax slightly.

"I suppose not..." They admitted and walked to the other side of the room. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Cedric. I really appreciate it." I said softly. He smiled at me.

"No problem. A little loyalty, right? Well, even if we're from different schools, we're still Hufflepuff." He held out a closed fist and I stared at it uncomprehendingly. He cocked his head. "Have you never fist bumped before? Come on, pound it!" He grinned. Did he want me to punch his fist?

"Um... Okay.." I gently bumped his knuckled with a closed fist. He pulled back and made a strange gesture like his fist was exploding. I half remembered seeing Gray and Loke do something like that once.

We sat in silence waiting for the headmasters. What happened next I was in no way expecting. Harry walked into the room, closely followed by the different headmasters including Makarov.

"This goes against all protocol!"

"What is ze meaning of this, Dumbledore?!"

"Harry, what's going on?" Cedric asked, confused. Dumbledore ignored his question and grasped Harry's shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"Did you put your name into the goblet of fire?!"

"No sir I-"

"Did you have another student do it for you?!"

"What? No! I-"

"He's lying!"

"Harry I need the truth." The kind old man looked strangely terrifying. I shifted uncomfortably, slightly intimidated. The master noticed my discomfort.

"Albus. The children are scared and confused. Please calm down and explain." He said in that manner of his that calmed everyone. "Harry didn't put his name in that goblet. Someone else did. Someone who was trying to get him into trouble."

"I can think of a few ways that someone might have done that." Said a teacher with one magical eye strapped in, a long oak staff, a metallic leg, and a chunk out of his nose was the one who had spoken. I think Laxus said he was a defense against the dark arts teacher...

"Of course YOU could, Madeye." The headmaster of Viktor's school hissed.

"That's enough, Karkaroff." Dumbledore said quietly. "You're right, Makarov. There is nothing that we can do about it tonight. Barty Crouch says that the rules can't be broken. Harry is a champion. There's nothing that we can do about it now... You should all get some sleep. I'm sure that it's been a very long day for you. The best of luck to you all.

…

As soon as I stepped through the doors, all I could hear was music. Cedric's friends enveloped him with a polite nod and a kind word in my direction as they whirled him into the party. I made my way to the back of the room to where my friends sat. They had some food from Magnolia set out on a small table, grinning brightly as I approached.

"Congratulations, Wendy!" Lisanna exclaimed as they all gave me a group hug. I giggled and hugged back, my feet barely touching the ground as I hugged the two taller woman, breaking away to hug Romeo. "I admit that we didn't expect it, but I'm sure you'll do great!"

"Yeah totally! I mean you're a dragonslayer after all!" Romeo grinned before Juvia shushed him.

"Juvia things so too, but keep in mind that we have to keep our magic a secret." She whispered. We all sat down and began snacking on the junkfood. It had only been a few days, but I had really missed the food from home. I missed the familiarity. I glanced around at the party, no one seemed to be near us at the moment.

"Alright, I need you guys t get serious for a minute." I whispered. "Someone sabotaged Harry. They put his name into the goblet without his permission."

"So that's why everyone got so worked up over it, huh? I was wondering why everyone got so worked up." Romeo whispered back. "That's bad. Could it have been the imposter teacher? Or maybe even a student..."

"It could have been anyone. We need to pass this along to the other members if we get a moment alone. Maybe we can get Rogue to do some sneaking around in the shadows?" Lisanna suggested. I nodded.

"That's a good plan. He can pass undetected better than the rest of us. Maybe Love rival can get Gemini to copy one of the teachers and add some extra ears back there. Laxus, Cana, and Elfman are doing a great job of blending in, but they're still outsiders. Maybe Gemini could get some information that they'd only share with the people they trust." Juvia suggested. I didn't blame her for knowing infiltration techniques. Phantom Lord WAS a Dark guild, after all.

"Sounds good. So when you see the others, pass the word, okay?"

"Right."

"Yep."

"Got it."

"Excellent. Now on a lighter note... Did you see everyone's face when Laxus freaked out?" Lisanna giggled.

**Here we go! Whoooooo! Alright! If anything doesn't make sense or something, I'm tired. Cut me some slack. Please leave reviews, I always love to hear what you have to say, but if you're going to write three pages, can you maybe cut some out? It's a fanfiction, not a new york times bestseller. Not that I don't appreciate it! It just takes a while to read and kinda bums me out when people write three pages of mistakes...**


	16. Shhhhhh!

**Rogue's POV **

"Can you hear anything?"

I grit my teeth in frustration. "I won't be able to if you keep talking, Lector!" I hissed. My ear was pressed up against the door to Professor McGonagall's office in the Gryffindor common room. It was about two AM, but for some reason, the teacher was up. She had knocked something over and it was the crash that woke me. I didn't want to wake Frosche and the others, so I carefully slid out of bed and walked downstairs. Lector had joined me a few minutes later, a nightmare waking him. When he noticed that I was gone, he followed.

"What are they saying?"

"Shh!"

"Sorry Rogue-kun." He mumbled. I pet his head gently to say that I wasn't mad, but I was straining to hear through the large oaken door. Did the wood have to be so friggen thick?

I heard McGonagall shout angrily, then another muffled argument. A tiny hand (or rather, someone's tiny paw) on my back nearly scared me out of my skin. I had been concentrating so hard that I hadn't heard him approach.

"Rogue!"

"Shhhh, Frosche!" I exclaimed as I heard the voices go silent. My friend's eyes got big and teared up as he looked at me. Oh shit.

"Fro is sorry! Please don't be mad Rogue!" He hugged my leg, crying softly as I heard footsteps approach.

"Frosche it's okay! But please PLEASE be quiet!" I whispered, hugging him close and grabbing Lector before ducking into a shadow. I cupped my hands over their mouths as Professor Snape emerged from the closed door. I jumped from the wall to his shadow to the shadows inside the room like stepping stones. There. I was in. Frosche tapped my hand to say that I could let go, and he wouldn't talk. As soon as I did, he climbed up onto my shoulder with Lector.

After a minute of looking around the common room, Snape walked back to the other teachers. Dumbledore was leaning tiredly on a desk, staring into a small basin of milky white essence. It glowed faintly as it swirled around the bowl.

"We're alone." The sharp nosed potions master confirmed.

"Barty was clear about the rules." Dumbledore sighed in a rather tired manner.

"To Hell with Barty! He's just a child!" McGonagall exclaimed, obviously mortified. "Everything has exceptions, Dumbledore!"

"Perhaps... It would be better to just let things unfold on their own?" Snape suggested. My eyes narrowed. Would he seriously suggest using a kid like this? Who does that?!

"What? Use him as bait?! He's a boy! Not a piece of meat! Surely you won't stand for this, Dumbledore!"

"I agree... With Severus." He said quietly, using his wand to pull another strand of the essence from his temple. McGonogall looked at him fiercely.

"Then if he is hurt, that blood is on YOUR hands, Dumbledore!" I didn't need to hear anymore. I slipped back out of the room through the door left slightly ajar and up the stairs back to the boy's room. Sting was up and looking everywhere worriedly.

"Lector?! Frosche?! This isn't funny!" He hissed, looking around wildly.

"Calm down, Sting. They were with me." I said, emerging from the shadows. Lector jumped onto the floor.

"Sorry to worry you, Sting-kun. But I didn't wanna wake you up."

"Fro thinks so too." Frosche apologized, jumping down and hugging his leg. "Fro is sorry." Sting grinned.

"Eh, don't sweat it. Just let me know next time so that I don't think you wandered off."

"We promise." Lector swore.

"Fro does too!" He said, lifting his paw. I smiled and picked him up.

"Well, the teachers aren't going to do anything about you know who." I said, pointing to Harry. They're going to sit back and watch as they send an underage kid into a death tournament."

"What?!"

"Shh!" Frosche, Lector, and I scolded him. He clapped a hand over his mouth.

"What?" He whispered. "They aren't going to do ANYTHING? But he's just a kid! And their magic isn't like ours!" He glanced at Natsu in the next bed. "We should tell Natsu-kun and the others."

"Right. You wake Gray, I'll wake Natsu." I nodded, going to the pinkett's bedside and shaking him. He grumbled something about Gray and socked me in the nose.

"Ah!" I groaned, pressing my face into my hands as my eyes watered. I hated getting hit in the nose. Even when it didn't hurt, you couldn't help but cry. "Son of bitch!" I grumbled, my voice muffledby my palms. Sting snickered at me.

"Even when your opponent is asleep you still lose like a girl."

"Shut up Sting." Natsu's eyes opened and I moved to the next bed. "Oi, Mystogan. We need to talk to you."

"Mmh... Five more minutes, Meredy." He murmured, rolling over. Meredy? Wasn't that the name of the girl from Grimoire heart? I shook him again. "Just go but Ultear." He hunched his shoulders as though to ward me off. Ultear... She was also a Grimoire heart member. And an ex council member. Hadn't she committed treason or something? What was a Fairytail member like Mystogan doing with people like that?... Unless...

"I want a fish." Happy said sleepily, sitting up next to Natsu. "Why are we up so early anyway?"

"Because we've got stuff to talk about. Now wake up and listen." I sighed, not in the mood for this.

"Rogue are you crying?"

"Why you!"

**Harry's POV **

I listened as the Fairytail students talked in hushed tones through the curtains around my bed. A few times, I could have sworn that I heard different voices that I'd never heard before, but how was that possible? I couldn't make out their words because of just how quietly they spoke. They must have pretty sharp ears to be able to hear each other like that.

"Fro thinks so too."

Fro... Wasn't that Rogue's weird cat? The one in the frog suit? But cats didn't talk. I mean yeah, since coming to the wizarding world I'd seen some pretty weird stuff. But talking cats? Wasn't that pushing the limit a little?

Their voices got a little bit louder when I heard Gray and Jellal join in the conversation.

"Do we even know who put his name in the goblet in the first place?" I heard Gray ask quietly.

"No. Elfman and the others haven't been able to find anything out about why Hogwarts has two students entered." I heard Jellal say quietly. So that was it. They must have thought that the school had somehow cheated to increase our chances of winning. Typical. Bloody typical.

"Natsu I'm hungry." One of the strange voices said sleepily.

"Well whaddya want me to do about it?" I heard Natsu reply. "I'm hungry too."

"I want a fish!" The voice demanded.

"Well then you'll have to wait until morning, Happy! I don't know what you want me to do about it!" Natsu stage whispered back. I heard a smack.

"For godsake quiet down you idiot!"

"You're one to talk Ice stripper!"

"get him, Natsu-kun!"

"That's enough." I heard Rogue's calm voice cut through the arguing. "You wouldn't want Erza to hear about this would you?" Instantly, all the voices went quiet.

"E-E-Erza? You wouldn't tell on us to her! You're bluffing!"

"I can and I will. All of you need to stop this foolishness." He hissed. After that loud bt of whispering, their voices all dropped again and I couldn't make it out anymore.

**Another chapter finished! What will Harry make of this new information? What will happen next? Stay tuned and keep up those reviews! I'm sorry for being slow on updating, but I have three additional stories on the go. Merry Christmas Fairies, Clash of the genderbends, and Comatose.**


	17. Jellal Fernandes

**Harry's POV **

"After that they all got quiet and I couldn't hear anything else." I whispered to my friend. We were currently in the library. Students wrote essays and talked in hushed tones around Hermione and I, occasionally sending a glare my way. "Don't they seem a little suspicious to you?"

"More than a little. I still haven't been able to find ANYTHING on their school. It must be really far off the map to pass so unnoticed." I could see how frustrated she was by the way that her cheeks had flushed. She seemed more disheveled than usual. If there was one thing that drove Hermione insane, it was when she couldn't find the answer in a book. "They seems so nice and open, but every time I ask about them, they clam up!" She exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Madame Prince scolded as she walked past.

"Sorry... But you understand what I'm saying right?" She asked desperately. I nodded.

"I know... Do you really think that it could have been the cats talking?" I asked her, Hermione knew more about spells then I did by a longshot. "Or was it someone else or maybe nicknames?" Even as I said it, I knew that I didn't quite believe my suggestions.

"Yes, that must have been it. I don't see what else it could have been. I couldn't find mention of a spell like that anywhere."

"Hello Harry! Hello Hermione!" I glanced up to see one of the Fairytail girls approaching. The one with silver hair... Mira maybe? Yeah, that's right. Professor Strauss's little sister. I was honestly sort of surprised that she was talking to us, given the whole Gryffindor/Slytherin fued. But she still smiled at us as though we were old friends.

"Uh... Hi Mira..." I said, suspicious of whether or not this was some sort of joke. She continued to smile.

"You haven't seen Professor Dreyar junior, have you?" She asked curiously. "I'm looking for him."

"Professor Dreyar is the blonde, right? The one who almost blew up the great hall?" Hermione asked. Mira blushed slightly and nodded.

"He has... a bit of a temper. That's all. I'm sure he didn't mean to. I apologize if that scared you, I gave him a stern talking to afterwards about anger management among children." She sighed, a bead of sweat rolling down her face in an oddly cartoon-ish way.

"You scolded your professor?" Hermione asked in horror. She nodded.

"I don't know if he'll listen or not since he usually doesn't care, but at least I tried. But I need to speak with him about other matters. Have you seen him?" She asked curiously.

"Sorry, I haven't." I said. She frowned.

"Darn. I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Say, where's your redhead friend, Ron?" She looked around, noticing that he wasn't there. My face soured slightly.

"Probably odd being a git." I grumbled. Hermione smacked my arm.

"Harry be nice!"

"So you two aren't seeing eye to eye huh?" She asked sympathetically.

"Ask him. He's the one who started treating me like rubbish as soon as my name came out of that goblet."

"Want me to talk to him?" She rested a hand on my shoulder. "I have a way of making people understand so I'm told." I was slightly surprised, she was being so kind to me. A complete stranger. What could possibly be so devious or cunning about her that she got chucked into Slytherin? I shook my head.

"Thanks but no thanks." I said kindly. She nodded and let go.

"If you say so. But the offer is there." She looked between Hermione and I. "You know... You two would make a great couple." With that she turned and left, leaving a stunned Hermione and I behind.

**Lucy's POV **

It was the weekend, the first week of school had been full of bumps and barriers, but it was finally the weekend. I could finally sleep in right? Wrong. There was shouting from down the stairs so loud that it reached into the girls dormitories. I rolled up in surprise, snatching my keys from the nightstand and belting them on as I rushed down, tripping and nearly falling. Erza was already down there when I entered the room. The Hogwarts students seemed extremely angry for some reason, yelling at the gathered Fairytail wizards. Jellal had a darkening bruise on his jaw, Natsu and Gray were holding down Sting and Rogue while yelling profanities at each other. Erza was trying to make peace, but it was no use. So I stood there in my tank top and pajamas, just watching before finally professor McGonagall intervened.

"What is the meaning of this disturbance?!" She demanded, raising her wand. The common room went quiet. Her voice shook with fury. "We Gryffindors maintain a proud reputation of being gentlemanly! And Ladylike! What is this ruckus about?!"

"Well professor... We -" Seamus began, only to be cut off by Erza.

"They read an untrue statement in your newspaper and took it upon themselves to deal punishment while the object of their fury was asleep." Erza said calmly, but it was clear that she was holding back a tidal wave of rage from the aura pouring off of her.

"And what statement was that?" McGonagall asked through gritted teeth. Erza handed her a copy of the daily prophet. I noticed a spare copy on the table and decided to read it for myself. The fron page was a picture of Jellal. It read:

_Jellal Fernandes of Fairytail academy. Seeming to be such a noble and profound man of little words. Could there be an alternate reason to his silence? Inside sources have divulged that The blue-haired hunk is actually a wanted criminal. Crimes including murder of first degree, escaping from prison, and being on coherence with other wanted criminals. It comes into question what the other Fairytail wizards are capable of. Did they know of this? Are they protecting him? For full article, turn to page three. _

My eyes widened. How did they know?! No one could know such a thing! Whenever we discussed anything that was sensitive like that, we ALWAYS made sure that we were alone! How did- I checked the author's name- Rita Skeeter find out?! I looked up at McGonagall. What was she going to say?!

"Young man... Please come with me." She pursed her lips. "It seems as though this is a matter that will have to be taken to the headmaster." Jellal nodded calmly, not showing any emotion.

"Of course, madam. I understand." He said quietly before walking through the crowd and through the portrait hole with the teacher. I watched, shell shocked.

"Erza... What do we do?" I asked, rushing over. She said nothing. Just like when Jellal was arrested, she went silent.

"You knew the whole time!" Sting demanded, throwing Natsu off and stomping over. "You knew who he was!"

"Sting please keep your voice down." I said quietly. He glared at me.

"Shut it blondie. You weren't the one being kept in the dark!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Natsu exclaimed angrily, shoving The other dragon slayer.

"That's enough!" Erza said scarily. We all went dead silent. "We will discuss this later. Go. Enjoy your Saturday." It wasn't so much an offer as it was a command. Natsu grabbed my hand, barreling through the other Gryffindors.

"Aye Erza!" He squeaked as he dragged me along behind him. I yelped in a panic.

"Wait! I haven't even gotten dressed yet! NATSU!"

**I'M SO SORRY! I keep procrastinating! I'm sooooo soorrryyy! But ere's the new chapter anyway... forgive me? Leave reviews please, always love feedback**


	18. The First Task

**Jellal's POV **

I sat in the headmaster's office, my fingers laced in my lap with my head hung in shame. For once in my life I had been freed from my crimes. I had laughed. I had smiled. I had genuinely enjoyed myself. Of course it didn't last. Why would a wretch like me deserve anything less? My jaw ached where I had been punched, but I didn't really care. I've had worse. I could hear an argument as several voices approached. Dumbledore, Makarov, Laxus, Erza, Cana, Mira, and Elfman entered the large room.

"Don't get mad at him Laxus!" Mira protested. The blonde glared at her.

"Well that reporter had to find out somehow! He must have blabbed about it!"

"And why would he do that?! You know as well as I do how he feels about his past!" The barmaid exclaimed angrily.

"I haven't had enough booze for this." Cana grumbled,taking a sip from a large bottle. "But I agree with Mira."

"He's being a real man about it though, not hitting those kids back." Elfman said seriously.

"That's enough brats." Makarov said firmly. "Jellal would you care to explain?" All eyes turned to me and I sighed.

"I'm sorry but I really don't know how that woman found out. The only person I spoke of it with was Erza for a brief moment. We were alone and talking in hushed whispers. I don't even understand it myself." I said honestly. "I never should have come here. I should return to Earthland. I was a fool to ever think that I could help you."

"Nonsense." Dumbledore said. I glanced over in surprise since he had thus far been quiet.

"Dumbledore-sama?"

"We will sort this out. You had an Edolas counterpart known as Mystogan, correct?"

"Yes but how is that relevant?"

"I feel as though I could speak with my contacts at the daily prophet with a way to clear your name. Granted, the opinions of your peers will not be so easily swayed, but it should remove any pressure put on Fairytail academy by teachers, or the ministry of magic.

"Do you really think they'll buy it?"

"I know I wouldn't..."

"We'll never know unless we try."

"Then it's settled." Mira nodded. She put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a gentle smile. "Just keep your head down for now okay? We'll figure it out. Don't mention it anymore."

"You have my word. I'll not speak of it again, I swear." I said seriously, standing. "I should speak to the others about-"

"Perhaps it best that you stay here for now." Dumbledore reasoned. "I expect that you'll face quite a few harsh words if you return now. It won't help your friends to be seen accepting you until the paper is released either."

"As... As you wish." I agreed reluctantly, easing back into the chair that I had risen from. "May I have some paper and a pen to write to Erza about my situation with my own words?"

"Of course. You can borrow my quill." Mira said, nearly tripping over herself to hand it to me. "Will it be a love note?!" She exclaimed, causing everyone in the room to stare at me. My face paled except for my cheeks which flamed red.

"What?! No!" I protested quickly. Her look of disappointment caused everyone in the room to sweat drop. I had heard from Erza that Mirajane could be quite... Persistent when it came to pairing people... Not that I would mind being paired with Erza but... No. The first task was soon to be upon us. I had things that I needed to do, and now this whole mess... No. No it simply wasn't possible. It was a miracle that she didn't hate me. To say that she might actually have feelings for me... It was ridiculous. Keeping all this in mind, I dipped the quill in the ink and began to write.

**Freed's POV **

"Have you found anything that may give us an inkling as to the nature of the challenge?" I asked, glancing over at Levy who shook her head in frustration.

"There doesn't seem to have been any pattern over the year to the contests! They're all just random things but... A lot of them were really dangerous Freed... I'm worried about Wendy."

"I'm aware. Every protection rune in my arsenal is going to be applied to her. Depending on the challenge I may not be the best suited to help, but I will do what I can."

"We all will." The bluenette agreed. I glanced at her, smiling softly.

"Besides that we have Laxus on our side. He's our trump card." I said confidently, thinking of my dear friend. He would pull us through this if all else failed. I just knew he would. He had before right? I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Levy giggling.

"You're blushing." She giggled, which only caused my cheeks to redden further.

"That's absurd... It's simply too hot here by the fire." I lied, keeping a somewhat straight face as I buried my head in a book once more, examining a book of runes for any that I may not have thought of that could prove useful. I wrote one down on a piece of parchment and set the leather bound novel aside.

"Did you two hear about this morning's disturbance?" Ever asked, glancing up from the book that she was reading on the rules of the tournament. I knew that she'd rather be doing other things, but I really appreciated her help. The wind readers resting on her nose prevented her from turning us all into stone.

"Yeah... Lu-chan was telling me at breakfast..." Levy sighed. "And I read the paper. Poor Jellal..." I nodded in agreement. But there wasn't time to dwell on it. There was exactly one week until the first task was to take place. We had been scouring every single book in the library, but nothing seemed to be helping us...

Something in my pocket began to ring, catching my attention. I looked down and pulled one of Cana's call cards from my coat pocket. The Chibi image of Cana jumping up and down with the word "Urgent" In a spiked speech bubble followed by a location glowwed and flashed on the card. I flashed it at Evergreen and Levy who were already packing up their books and glasses to follow me as we left the room to head to the seventh floor. Apparently there were two tapestries of trolls, and if we walked past the section of wall between them three times thinking of exactly what we needed... A room would appear.

**Laxus's POV **

Okay. I had seen some weird things. Hell, I was a member of Fairytail, I'd seen the very definition of weird. But a room that appeared out of nowhere with a huge meeting table, books about exactly what everyone in the room was interested in against one wall, a fireplace in one corner, and a large statue of the Fairytail symbol in the middle... It was... It was...

"The room of requirement." Master Mavis said, appearing to my right as I gazed around.

"The what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It changes to suit the needs of the user. For us it has become a place of meeting, solitude, and refugee." She said with a bright light in her eyes.

"I assume that you're the one who found this room, first?" I asked curiously. She nodded with a smile.

"I'm a ghost. I can see and do things that other people can't. As soon as I noticed it and the magic it possessed, I told Cana to send out that message and spread the word to the rest of you.

"So say I really needed something to eat-" As soon as I said it, lightning began flashing from a small device in the corner. Now I raised the other eyebrow, impressed. "Wow. It's efficient too."

"It was designed to be as such. When someone has need of it, it will always be here."

"Speaking of first master. Why are you calling everyone here?" I asked, glancing down at her. The young ghost looked up at me seriously.

"Is it not obvious? We know what the first task is."

**I'm SO SORRY for the delay in writing, But I have a HUGE case of writer's block for this story as well as the clash of the genderbends. I'm so sorry! I'm really trying! don't hate me! I'm shocked I got as much as I did but I love you guys! Please review!**


	19. The plan if I was listening

**Natsu's POV **

"DRAGONS?!" I exclaimed, jaw dropping. "You mean they just have dragons LYING AROUND for something like this?!" Lucy smacked me in the back of the head with a slight scowl.

"No they aren't just lying around you nitwit! They must have talked to them and earned their respect for the challenge! That's how you usually ask a dragon for a favour right?" Evergreen huffed, crossing her arms. Geez she was bossy. What a know it all. She didn't know jack about dragons.

"The dragons here are very different from the ones in Magnolia." Mavis said, walking to the front of all of us with her long blonde curls bouncing. She turned to face us and laced her hands behind her back. "Makarov has been talking to Dumbledore and apparently the dragons here don't speak or use magic like dragons like back in Earthland. They can fly, breathe fire, and have intelligence, but nowhere near that of the knowledge and power possessed by dragons such as Igneel, Acnologia, Grandina or Metalicana."

"So the only way to defeat them is to fight them then?" Jellal asked. He had been quiet since this morning when those dumbasses Sting and Rogue had been screaming at him and the other Gryffindors had thrown a fit. Honestly can't they give the poor guy a break? The past is the past. Can't we all just eat drink and be merry? That's what I do. Besides, we've got more important things to worry about than who killed who right? Like... Like um... Like... I glanced around the room and my gaze landed on the short blonde beside me. Like Lucy! Yeah! We should all be worrying about Luce like how she smelled pretty and stuff... yep. Much more important than who killed who! Especially since she kind of smelled like-

"Natsu are you even listening to us?" ...Sting.

"Huh?" I asked dazedly, being pulled back to reality by the voice of the blonde dragon slayer. Why the hell did Lucy smell like Sting?! Had they been talking alone or something?! How could I have missed it?! I was always with Lucy! Well... except when she studies. But that's only because it's soooo boring! "Yeah... I'm listening."

"No he isn't." Lucy sighed, looking up at me. "We SAID that if Wendy can't get past the dragon or whatever the task intends to use the dragons for with kind words, Freed is going to put an invisibility rune on you so that you can sneak into the arena and eat the fire if it gets too close to her. Okay?"

"Er... right. Eat the fire when I'm invisible. Got it." I nodded, shaking my head as I re-joined the discussion. There was a plan that the wizards that could help the most would all be given the invisibility rune and be stationed around the outer edge of the arena. As far as I could understand, Wendy was supposed to try and talk to the dragon, see if it would recognize her magic energy or something as one of their own. She'd try and talk it down, like a snake charmer or something. And if THAT didn't work, she'd start using magic which it where the rest of us come in. Juvia, Laxus, the stripper, and me of course, would be stationed inside the arena for extra assistance. Apparently the first wanted a range of different magics so that it would look like Wendy was actually using this world's spells (which had a lot of variety) as opposed to our kind of magic that was a specific type or... something. I kind of zoned out after a while. while we were doing that, Metal head, Levy, Mira, Jellal and Bixlow would be on lookout for any dark magic that was new (like this moldywart guy everyone keeps talking about), or the familiar black magic that we could recognize as Zeref's. Lastly, the remaining wizards (Sting, Rogue, Luce, Romeo, Lisanna, Erza, Freed, Evergreen, the old man, and first would be in the audience ready to help either group if something went wrong on either end.

"It's a good chances of either Voldemort_-" Ah so that was his name... Eh, I'll keep calling him moldywart_. "-Or Zeref showing themselves this early in the game are minimal. only 15% of a chance." The first master said in her tactician voice, the same one that she had used in the grand magic games. "There's a 75% chance that our plan will succeed without any serious injury. A 10% chance that a few wizards in the audience will discover that we're using treachery, or magic that doesn't belong to their world. A 45% chance that Wendy will be able to make the dragon understand that she means it no harm. Were Voldemort's followers to make an appearance, there's a 15% chance that he'll approach from the east, a 50% chance that he'll approach from the West, a 25% chance that they come from the north, and a 10% chance of them approaching from the south. Based on those statistics we'll organize the wizards on guard patrol into small squads where the power will even each other out."

We all stared at the small girl for a few seconds. It's tough to think that our tiny little first master was able to come up with stuff like that out of the blue. no matter how many times I see it, it will never stop being just plain mind boggling. I mean she can only be like thirteen years old right?! But then there's that whole hundred years as a ghost thing... I want to be a ghost too! But instead of getting really really smart I'd get really really powerful and eat up Gray's ghost! Yeah! Whoohoo! Being dead is going to be awesome!

**Draco's POV **

I wandered the castle looking for the small runty bookworm. Of course, the busty blonde would have been more ideal to ask out. She had... much more to offer. But pissing off that pierced up blockhead was just too good to resist. He had been rude, and no small degree irritating, so he would pay for it by having his girl snatched out from underneath his feet. You know... any of those girls were quite the prize to be won. Perhaps if it didn't work out with the bluenette I could try and get one with a chest worth my time. I walked into the library where the small shrimp always seemed to be spending her time and browsed through the shelves... Odd. She wasn't here. She was always here with one book or another, a bright smile on her face as though reading were the greatest thing in the world.

I hadn't really seen any of the Fairytail students for a couple of hours come to think of it... that couldn't be a coincidence could it? Perhaps I should write a message to father about them. I'm sure that he would like to hear about these wizards and their odd habits. In every single class they never once participated by using their wands. And what was with that pink haired one? He tried to eat the fire in potions class! TWICE! He must be mentally retarded or something. Who would eat fire except for a total imbecile? It's not like you could get magical power from it or anything. That's just crazy talk.

"Oh hello Draco-san. Come to study again?" Asked a friendly voice. I turned to see who had spoken and forced myself to smile charmingly. "You caught me. I can never slip by you can I Levy?" I asked with a fake chuckle.

"Apparently not. Want company?"

"If you're offering. Where have you been?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms.

"Oh you know, just out and about with my friends." She said sweetly, flashing a bright grin as she set out her books at one of the tables. Honest to god why couldn't she do something fun?! All she ever did was f****** read! I didn't know how much of this girl that I could take. Eventually I was going to get bored with her so she'd better fall in love with me quick. Then I can break her heart and get my revenge on that metal headed freak. Lost in my thoughts I hadn't heard the question until she tapped my arm.

"Draco-san?" She asked with a small frown of concern. You know... She was kind of cute when she was concerned. She gets this look in her eye... wait what?

"Huh? Oh... Right sorry Levy what was that?" I asked, coming out of my internal plotting.

"I asked if you wanted to walk around with Gajeel and I this weekend. It was posted that we could go down to Hogsmeade village if we wanted. I just thought that it'd be nice to spend time with the both of you." She said, smiling at me. I somehow kept the snarl off my lips. of course I didn't want to spend time with him! But... Maybe it would help me get onto her good side... and of course father would be happier if I could get more information about where they came from from the both of them rather than just Levy herself. He'd probably want me to befriend as many of these wierdo's as possible.

"...Sure." I said, attempting to keep the snarl off my lips at the thought of hanging around with those losers. "I'd...love to." I said, forcing a smile. "I'll be sure to show you Honeyduke's sweet shop. I guarantee that you'll enjoy all the chocolates there.

"A chocolate shop? Huh... Maybe Lucy and Erza should come with us. But then... Erza gets a little crazy about desserts..." She said, and oddly animated looking bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. I looked at her strangely.

"You sound almost... afraid." I commented, cracking a small grin. She smiled weakly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Just don't stand between Erza and her sugar and no one gets hurt." She laughed softly, the gentle sound ringing through the air. I watched how her face changed as her mirth soon faded away. Then she picked up the damn book again. Ugh. BORING!

"Draco what are you doing with _her_?" Came another voice that I most unfortunately recognized. I turned slowly, half praying that she'd leave. No luck.

"Oh... Hey Pansy." I said, waving one hand. Levy looked up and waved slightly as well.

"Oh hello. Is this a friend of yours Draco-san?" She asked, glancing to where I sat on the edge of the table. I nodded slightly, but of course I wasn't exactly fond of Pansy. She was clingy. Always hanging off my arm and laughing too hard at my jokes. It pissed me off to no end.

"Yeah. I guess so." I sighed as the pug faced girl approached and linked arms with me, leaning her head on my shoulder. Needless to say I immediately yanked my arm away.

"Then it's nice to meet you I'm Levy McGar-"

"I really don't care." The other Slytherin sneered cruelly, crossing her arms after my rejection. "Don't you have other friends to be hanging out with? Like hanging of that big bucket of bolts you're screwing?" By the look on Levy's face it was obvious that she hadn't been expecting that at all. She looked slightly hurt as her cheeks turned bright red.

"I-… We're not... I mean..." She stammered, Obviously at a loss for words as she tried to hide her face behind her hands. I felt an odd heat in my chest as I watched her flounder for something to say like a fish out of water. I scowled at Pansy threateningly, locking my jaw.

"Don't you have better things to do? Go bother someone else." I growled. Of course, I needed the bluenette's trust if I was ever going to win her over, and sticking up for her was the easiest way to do that. No other reason. Nope. None at all.

**I'm so sorry for the delay! But school starts tomorrow so I'll finally have some structure back in my life! I've made a schedule of which stories to update on my calendar so hopefully I'll get better at updating! I'm so sorry, please leave those reviews, I love hearing your thoughts! I tried making this chapter a bit longer than average with a lil bit of hinted fluff as compensation. Coming soon: Natsu confronts Lucy about smelling like Sting, The first task, and a Hogsmeade adventure! So don't touch that dial!**


	20. hogsmaede

**Hermione's POV **

"So this is Hogsmeade... what a cute little town." Erza commented, looking around at the many sights and activities in the village. Halloween was approaching, just after the first task. Looking around the buildings and shops, there was a definite spooky air about it. Zonko's joke shop had been decorated from top to bottom with dancing skeletons, prank candy, and several practical jokes to play on your friends. Honeydukes were selling chocolate frogs wearing witch hats, gummy snakes that actually hissed, and witches fingers that actually moved. Being a muggle-born, it never ceased to amaze me what wizards could do with things like this. It was delightful really, just seeing what was possible. As we walked, I explained just what we did at Hogwarts during the holiday. Ron was beside me and began to retell the tale of our first Halloween at Hogwarts.

"TROOOOLL IN THE DUNGEON!" He cried with a mortified face s he imitated the traitorous professor Quirrell as he had been on that stormy night. I never actually found out how he managed to get that lumbering oaf of a troll into the dungeon in the first place, I would think that the troll would have been too stupid to follow instructions. Huh. Maybe Quirrell was smarter than we thought.

"Really? So... Wow, you nearly died Hermione-chan!" Levy gasped, jaw dropping. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Er... yeah well... If Harry and Ron hadn't shown up, I wouldn't be here that's for sure. " I said, smiling as a light blush dusted my cheeks. I decided that it would be best if I changed the subject. "Where are the others?" I asked, referring to the other Gryffindors that always seemed to move in a group. Levy simply smiled as though she knew what I was doing.

"As far as I know, Natsu, Lucy, and Sting went off with Harry. Jellal and Rogue stayed up at the castle, and Erza's here with us." The bluenette said, making a list on her fingers until she was swept off her feet with a small shriek. I turned to see the big guy with black hair and enough piercings to start a jewelry store glaring down at us. I took a step back as I normally did from his cold demeanor as Levy pounded at his back, protesting weakly. "Gajeel put me down!" She squealed. Gajeel only smirked slightly, bouncing her lightly to adjust his grip.

"Quit squirming shrimp. You'll fall." He muttered, rolling his eyes. "Don't make me drop you on your head." Levy's kicking quickly froze. I didn't blame her. Gajeel was tall, a long way to fall, and clearly capable of hurting her. I considered stepping in. Gajeel was being a bully, and I didn't want to stand by while that happened, but Erza caught my eye and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. I was stuck between wanting to help, and wanting to trust what Erza was telling me. Eventually, I settled for silence, holding my tongue as the black haired man walked away with his tiny companion who was still muttering profanity under her breath.

"Why didn't you stop them?" I demanded to the redhead. She simply continued to watch the retreating backs of her friends as they walked back down the pathway. "He's going to hurt-"

"Gajeel would never." Erza said firmly, turning to face me with a very serious expression. I stiffened from the intensity in her gaze, it seemed to chill me to the bone. It was only now that I could really understand why Natsu, Gray, and the others jumped whenever she gave a command. It was as though she were staring straight through to my soul!

"But he... I mean..." I stammered, trying to recover from her stare.

"There was a time when I would have agreed with you, not let Levy anywhere near him. That time has passed now." She said calmly, playing with a strand of her hair thoughtfully. "Gajeel is gentle at heart. He'd never hurt her. Not really. He just likes to tease." She chuckles. "Besides, if they want to be alone, let them!" Her eyes filled with excitement as she clenched one fist in a victorious fashion. "It WILL become cannon..." She muttered under her breath. Whatever that meant. I was at a loss.

"So how did you come to trust him anyway?" I asked curiously, tucking my hands in my jacket pockets.

"Yeah, a big bloke like that, I can't imagine he would have been very easy to befriend." Ron added, obviously curious as well. Erza shrugged slowly up and down.

"You're looking at the outside." She said simply, seeming to go deep into thought. "If we obsess over exteriors, how can what's on the inside ever show?" She asked us with a small smile. I looked away sheepishly with a small blush on my cheeks. Ron blinked slowly.

"Bloody hell that was deep." He said blankly, obviously not really taking in any of what she had said. Erza began to laugh as I rolled my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. He'd never learn.

"Yea, I suppose it was." She said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Forgive me, I'm always saying things like that."

"Don't apologize, It's actually sort of interesting." I smiled, noticing one of the bluenettes from Hufflepuff waving us over. The taller one... what was her name again? "I uh... I think your friend is calling us."

"Mh? Ah, so she is." The redhead said, pulling away from our small trio. "Excuse me, I should go talk to her. I will see you all in the great hall for dinner." We nodded, watching her go. I turned to Ron and began to walk towards the Three Broomsticks. The shrunken heads on the door were yelling at us to shut the door as per usual. When we finally took our seats, I couldn't help but sigh. Since his fight with Harry, Ron had been moody almost every single day, and of course he was taking it out on me. His flaming orange hair caught the light from the ceiling as he shifted his head to rest on his hand.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?" I sighed, hating the feeling of being caught in the middle. I guess this was how Harry felt when Ron and I fought all the time...

"He's a right git. That's what happened." Ron muttered under his breath, not meeting my eyes. "You know as well as I do that he put his name in the bloody goblet and didn't bother to tell me. He doesn't need the money and he doesn't need more attention! Harry fucking Potter. The boy who lived. Who knew it's go so far to his head?" He was scowling angrily at the table, eyes boring holes into the wood. I sighed softly, sympathizing since I knew that he was really just feeling overlooked. At the same time, what he was saying about Harry made me want to rise to his defense. So I did.

"That isn't fair Ronald. You know he doesn't like the attention that he gets already! What would he want more? We're his friends! It's our job to stand up for him!" I protested, glaring back at him.

"You're just as bad as he is, always being a know it all in class! I get it, everyone's better than me!" He snapped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I shrunk back, slightly hurt before turning and beginning to walk out.

"And where are you going?!" He called after me.

"To find Harry!" I snapped back, slamming the door to the small tavern behind me.

**Lucy's POV **

The trip to Hogsmeade was... awkward. The entire time I was between Natsu and Sting who kept on awkwardly brushing against me every now and then absently. It was like having secret service agents around me at all times! Eventually, I shamefully admit, I had a bit of a nervous breakdown.

"WILL THE TWO OF YOU BACK OFF A LITTLE?!" I snapped finally, my patience at its limit. What was it with these two and their lack of respect for personal space?! I mean, I already knew that Natsu was a little fuzzy on the whole 'personal bubble' thing since he snuck into my room –ergo my bed- nine nights out of ten, but Sting too? Was this just a dragonslayer thing?

"Sorry Lucy..." They both said apologetically, moving a good foot to the left each. After that, the day was a little bit better. I could hear both Natsu and Sting making good natured conversation behind me as I browsed through the many shops for new quills. Since arriving I'd been keeping up with my writing, and was already in need of new supplies.

"You should use this one. Matches your eyes." Sting commented, handing me a long eagle feather quill that fit perfectly to my hand. I blushed slightly from the compliment.

"Uh... Thanks..." I murmured, slightly embarrassed. Something in Natsu's face seemed to change as his shoulders hunched and he shoved his hands into his pockets, grumbling to himself.

"No problem." The light dragonslayer smiled charmingly, slinging a friendly arm around my shoulders as Natsu often did. It felt a bit awkward, but not wanting to offend him I didn't shove him away. His smile widened slightly at that, glancing over at Natsu as I paid for the writing utensil and tucked it into my bag. "You coming Natsu? I heard that there was a cool place called the shrieking shack down at the end of the path! I dare you to touch it!" Natsu seemed to perk up slightly as Sting suggested this.

"And if I take you up on that bet?" He asked, a devilish glint in his eyes. It was odd, but I'd been noticing that look more and more as of late... Maybe it had something to do with why he wouldn't unravel the bandage around his arm... huh.

"If you win, I'll... cross-dress for the day of the first task!" Sting said after a moment, grinning as though he didn't believe that Natsu would do it. _Sting was going to look good in a dress... _I thought to myself with a small smirk before he continued. "And if you lose, you have to... wait on me hand and food for a day!"

"DONE!" Natsu said quickly, before Sting had time to change his mind. The blonde's arm retracted from around my shoulders as the pair raced off down the pathway in the direction of the old creepy shack that we'd heard some of the Hogwarts students talk about. With a short giggle, I ran to follow, not wanting to miss the look on my friend's faces when Natsu won that bet.

**I has nothing to say. Leave your reviews! :D**


	21. The Sky Dragon

**Rogue's POV **

The next day, I was laughing my ass off.

"OH MY GOD!" I roared with mirth, doubled over at the waist. Sting wore a short black miniskirt about halfway down the top of his leg, a short crop top (which I guess in retrospect is no different than the short shirt that he usually wears), black stiletto heels, and the meanest scowl that I'd ever seen on my best friend in my entire life.

"Shut up you bastard! It was a dare!" He protested weakly, cheeks bright red with embarrassment. "You know that I don't back down from a dare!" It was odd to me, just how feminine he looked. Must be the legs. But Sting would never forgive me if I mentioned that he had the legs of a chick. Like seriously. The earring that he always wore pretty much completed the look of a punk/rocker girl. Continuing to snicker under my breath along with Lector, Frosche walked up to him and gave him a pat on the leg.

"Fro thinks you are pretty." My friend said in a way that was clearly meant to comfort Sting, smiling up at him. The blonde just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as Natsu came down from the dorms, slinging his arm around Sting's shoulders.

"And you thought I wouldn't touch the shack! Ha! I'm almost wondering if you actually wanted to cross dress." The pinkette taunted, Sting glared at him with a murderous expression.

"You wanna go?" He muttered under his breath, the lights in the room getting brighter, then fading again.

"Hell yeah I wanna go!" Natsu snorted, the fire in the hearth blazing brighter. A figure behind them made me stand up straighter, the laughter dying in my throat. The two other dragonslayers seemed not to notice as she crossed her arms, observing for the time being. Neither had thrown a punch yet, and I sucked in a breath before Erza stepped in. There was a loud clang as she pulled their heads down into a hug that slammed against her breastplate so hard I actually winced and began to wonder if they had a concussion.

"Come on boys, we can all get along for today can't we?" Erza said sweetly, but the undertone to the words was clearly a threat. "It's Wendy's big day. We can't afford to be fighting since we need to give her our full support. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" The two squeaked, dropping to the floor when she released them and began walking over to me. I offered a small smile which she returned kindly.

"Rogue will you keep an eye on them for me while I go and speak with the master?" The redhead asked, looking up at me with a small sigh. Her brown eyes seemed to hold a different emotion that everyone else when I looked into them. Sting's usually had an air of arrogance and confidence, as did Natsu's, but Erza's contained a lot of worry and concern this morning. I didn't blame her. The sky dragonslayer was what? Twelve? Thirteen? No age to be in a death tournament!

"I'll try my best." I nodded, resting one hand on my katana just as a reassurance. It was a bit like a comfort object to me, a gift from Skiadrum. I couldn't help but wonder how today would pan out at this point. Erza seemed plenty worried, probably more for Wendy's safety rather than the success of the operation. I couldn't help but wonder what I could do if the plan went awry. I'd be in the audience, so unless the dragon flew right over the grandstand, I'd be useless...

"Thank you Rogue. I'll see you down at the arena." She said, already stepping through the portrait hole.

"You're welcome." I chuckled softly, walking over to lift Sting by the back of his shirt up to his feet. "Why don't we go and eat breakfast? Natsu should probably go and talk to freed about that rune." I suggested. Having them separate was probably the best option since, although friends, they always fought when together.

"What rune?" Natsu asked blankly, his expression empty when he turned to look at me. I heard a sigh from my left as Lucy came down the girl's staircase. "I'll take him down, and explain the plan AGAIN." The blonde rolled her eyes as she pulled her hair up into a long ponytail, grabbing Natsu's arm and dragging him behind her. Natsu followed happily, sticking his tongue out at Sting who made a move towards them before I yanked him back.

"Ah ah ah. You're coming with me." I chided, picking Frosche up into my arms and checked that Lector was following before walking out the portrait hole and down the staircase towards the great hall, Sting in tow.

**Wendy's POV **

I took a deep breath in the tent for the champions, trying to calm my nerves. Cedric was next to me with one hand on my shoulder for support. He may not have been a Fairytail wizard, but it was a comfort to feel his presence near me. Things were quiet in the tent, and a couple of people talked in hushed whispers off to one side. It seemed that everyone already knew what the task was due to various degrees of cheating, but that wasn't important right now. I turned my head and caught faint whispers from where Harry was standing near one of the thin canvas walls. My hearing was nowhere near as good as the other dragonslayers, so I had to strain to hear the words. But from what I could tell, it was Hermionie-san, and she was worried for Harry-san's safety. Not surprising I suppose. A moment later, the bushy-haired girl burst through the curtain and flung her arms around Harry's neck at the same time as a camera flash went off.

"Young love!" A woman with blonde hair gasped as she entered through the main flap, clasping her hands together. "How... Stirring." She said after a moment, a dark green quill scratching her words down on a small notepad automatically. This woman reminded me a bit of Evergreen, but not really. It must have been the dress and a pair of horn rimmed glasses that she wore. From the way that everyone glared at her when she entered, it was clear that her presence wasn't welcome. Immediately, the body language of every single wizard in that room changed. Harry's posture was stiff and rigid as though he were about to defend himself. Subconsciously, Cedric shifted to the foot closest to me, half blocking me from her view as a parent or older sibling would. Viktor's shoulders were back with his head high in a dignified way as though he were ready to lash out at any second, and Fleur had retreated back a few steps as though trying to avoid being noticed. The attitude towards this new woman was definitely negative.

"Only champions are welcome here. You must leave." Viktor said in his thick accent, pointing out the opening where the blonde woman had entered through in the first place. She looked up at him with a look in her eyes that made me shudder. The word cougar came to mind as she turned and began to walk out after making a cat noise at the tall Bulgarian. Cedric relaxed once she was gone and I moved around his leg, looking up at him.

"Who was she?" I asked with a small frown, tugging on his pants to get his attention. He looked down at me with an affectionate smile, ruffling my hair.

"Don't worry about her. Her name is Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet newspaper. I have a whole bunch of rude words that I could use to describe her, but to sum her up in a sentence, she stirs up trouble by stretching the truth so far that it's tough to tell if what she's writing has any value at all anymore.

"That's horrible..." I sighed softly. "Gossip is awful."

"I agree. Just don't put any merit into what you read by her." He said, running a hand through his hair before Mr. Crouch-sama called us over.

"Gather around champions, gather around." There was a small burlap sack in his hands and Hermione departed as all five champions made a circle around the Ministry worker, Dumbledore, and the other three headmasters including master Makarov. "Each of you reach into the bag." He said, offering each of us a chance to reach in and pull something out. Fleur chose first, pulling out a small dragon that looked like it was alive as it curled around her hand. "The Welsh green." Crouch nodded before moving on. By the time it got to me, there were only two dragons left in the bag. When I reached inside, my hand brushed against something soft. Curiously, I felt the dragon figurine curl around my finger. When I pulled it out, my breath caught in my throat and I gasped with surprise. Mr. Crouch gave me an odd look before continuing.

"The Feather-tailed Sky Dragon. An excellent choice. Oddly fitting somehow." Crouch said with a smile. But my heart was all I could hear as I stared at the tiny figure of Grandina breathing a gentle wind across my palm.

…..

The light as I stepped into the arena was bright. Probably because I'd been in the dimly lit tent for so long. My legs shook and my wand trembled in my hand as the dust of the path turned to stone beneath my feet. I could see everyone in the grandstands, easily picking out two blondes sitting side by-… was Sting in a skirt? Nevermind. There were jagged spires of rock all throughout the area, and everything was silent. I could smell Gray, Natsu, Laxus, and Juvia somewhere nearby which must have meant that Freed's invisibility rune was successful. As I looked around, I realized that one very important thing was missing._ Where was the- _

"WENDY HEADS UP!" I heard Romeo scream from the stands. _-Dragon_. Diving to my left, a huge blast of wind carved right into the rock where I had been standing as though it were butter. I shrieked in surprise, but was quickly back on my feet as I looked up to see the large white animal that so resembled my mother, clinging to the wall above the entrance. She slowly climbed down from her perch and began crawling towards me. Swallowing thickly, I managed to hold my ground. There was more curiosity rather than malice In her eyes, but I could never be sure. I had to remember that this wasn't Grandina. As much as I wished it to be. The she-dragon's nostrils flared slightly as she took in my scent. I longed to touch the soft white feathers on her wings, and rest against the cool scales of her underbelly as I had once done with my mother when I was little.

"Hello..." I said softly, my voice hardly above a whisper. If she would talk to me, we could sort this out. I was sure of it. But if this dragon was anything like Acnologia and thought of me as no more than a bug, I was in trouble. The dragon cocked her head slightly as she listened to me speak, glancing over towards her egg. "My name is Wendy." I said softly, maintaining eye contact to show her that I wasn't afraid. She crept closer still, blowing air across my face gently in greeting. This was something done among sky dragons so that the other dragon would have their scent if they ever turned against one another to track them down. Almost like a sort of insurance thing. I returned the gesture by blowing a small breath of wind back in her direction. The dragon seemed happy for the time being. after a moment, I felt a presence in my mind, thoughts that were not my own. Opening my consciousness to the new sensations, I could hear her voice.

_"Who are you... Wendy?" _The voice asked with a slight hesitation to her tone. _"You do not smell... normal. How do you know our customs?" _Her voice was clear and youthful. Clearly she didn't have many years. I was guessing maybe a hundred at most. In dragon terms, she'd really be only a little older than me.

_"My step mother was a sky dragon..." _I explained softly. _"Grandina from Earthland. What is your name?" _She regarded me curiously, gesturing for me to walk with her back towards the golden egg.

_"I have heard of her... She was strong, yes?" _The dragon asked, each footstep making a loud thud on the earth. I nodded as I walked beside her, still speaking with my thoughts rather than my voice.

_"Yeah. She was." _I said with a soft sigh. I missed my mother. I felt so empty without her sometimes. Like a part of myself had died with her after the Tartaros battle...

_"I am Magnesia. Although I did not know Grandina personally, my mother did. She was a dimension traveler. A space dragon. My father was a sky dragon which is why I am how I am." _I was baffled. I didn't even know that space dragons existed! Maybe that was where dimensional rifts originally came from... "_My mother and yours were joined at the hip since birth. I am glad to have met you Wendy." _She smiled, coming to rest next to the clutch of eggs. _"Take it. The people of this world are so ignorant as to believe that I would think for a second that THAT was one of my eggs." _She snorted, sitting on her haunches as I knelt to pick up the golden object gently, careful not to touch the delicate dragon eggs around it. It was heavy, but not unbearably so as I clutched it to my chest.

_"Thank you." _I said softly, turning to smile at her. Magnesia bent her head, touching her forehead to mine.

_"Go in peace, Wendy Grandina's daughter. May the stars guide you with their light and never lead you astray." _

_"And you. Thank you so much!" _I laughed, holding the egg up high. The audience, which had been silent up until now, began to clap and whistle with a loud roar, my victory unlike one they'd ever seen before. I had a huge grin plastered to my face as I stood next to the dragon that so closely resembled the one that I had lost, resting one hand on the scales of her leg until the judges sent their scores up into the air with ribbons of light from their wands.

From master Makarov, a ten. From Dumbledore-sama, a ten. From the beauxbatons headmistress, an eight. and from Durmstrang's headmaster, a seven. All in all a magnificent score, one to be proud of. I heard the door to the arena open with the rattling of chains and the grinding of metal on metal. The crowd was still cheering wildly as Magnesia and I walked back through the large gate. The sky dragon was collared (much to her obvious distaste. Dragons are to be treated with respect!) and forced back into a large cage to be moved back to where she came from. At the same time, I was led back to where the champions were resting after their matches.

As far as I could see, none of them were hurt too badly, but Cedric had a long cut on his arm that had not yet been healed by madame Pomfrey. I walked over to him and he raised his eyebrows, clearly shocked that I wasn't injured.

"Wendy, are you alright?" He asked with a slight frown. "What happened? How'd you tame her?"

"I'm fine. See?" I turned in a slow circle to show him that indeed, I wasn't hurt. I thin held up the egg to show him with a bright smile. "I completed the task." His jaw dropped slightly, but he didn't comment, simply sitting back into his pillows.

"Bloody Hell Wendy. You must have fire in your bones."

"Nope. Just a lot of hot air." I giggled softly at my own pun before walking up to the bedside. "Do you want some help with your arm? I study a lot of healing spells back at Fairytail academy." He nodded gratefully, holding it up for me to examine the gash.

"Er... yeah, thanks."

"From a tooth, a claw, or a rock?" I asked, examining the severity of the wound carefully to decide on exactly how I'd have to go about healing it. If the skin just needed to be re-sealed, the curvature of a claw would give a certain shape to the wound which would be helpful to take into account.

One of its scales actually. Apparently the dragon I was up against has really sharp ones. I only brushed up against the thing... Speaking of, how did you defeat your dragon?" He asked. I could tell that the curiosity was killing him. Honestly I was surprised that he'd lasted this long.

"I talked to her." I said simply as I pulled out my 'wand', waving it over the wound and murmuring nonsense under my breath while actually using on of Grandina's healing spells.

"You... What?"

"You heard me." I said simply, ignoring his obvious confusion. "I talked to her and treated her with respect. Most dragons are actually rather agreeable if you don't come at them with a threat. That just insults their honor." I said softly, pulling my wand away.

"How do you know so much about them? Dragons are brutes, they're nasty creatures. Kill us all if they got the chance." Cedric said, clearly shocked at my words. Although I knew that he'd been trying to treat me like an equal, there was still clear patronization in his tone as he spoke. Like he was trying to explain to an innocent child that Dragons weren't pets. I simply sighed softly. It couldn't really be helped. People were always going to underestimate me because of my age. Cedric didn't know what I'd seen, what I'd done, the fact that after all that I really couldn't be called a child.

"I suppose you're right. Excuse me Cedric. I'm going to go watch Harry's match." I said politely, walking out of the medical tent and towards the stands. When I arrived, the others all hugged me tightly. I could tell that the ones that had been in the arena with me had been a bit disappointed that they hadn't gotten to do anything, but gave me big hugs anyway. However, I think that the best congratulations that I ever could have hoped to receive was when Romeo embraced me tightly and gave me a small kiss on the cheek that made me blush.

**Heeeeeyyyy! So, RoWen fluff, and I'm sorry if some of you were hoping for badas dragon fighting, but I liked this idea. The second task will have more fighting, I promise. Now my rugby season is over, so I should be online more often and updating more quickly. I plan to make special updates to all of my stories on Halloween, so if there's no update until then, that's why. I love you guys and hope to keep getting your reviews in the comments! Thank you so much, and this chapter was like an extra thousand words than usual so yay me! :D Night all!**


	22. Halloween Dreams

**Bixlow's POV **

The great hall was crowded full of people for Halloween. Of course, back at home I'd be out with the Thunder Legion either trolling for chicks or screwing with people. The tables were all laden with candy, and other kinds of junk food. I doubt that there was anything healthy out there besides the apples INSIDE the candy apples. I definitely preferred Halloween in Magnolia. No one dressed in skimpy costumes in this world. Always those stupid robes I mean, come on girls! Show some skin!... Oh wow... I'm more of a pervert than I thought.

Anyway. I can't say I was the biggest fan of this event here. I had a splitting migraine at the moment and all the noise and activity wasn't helping in the slightest. Whenever we ate breakfast, or lunch, even dinner I always tried to get there last. Give myself just enough time to eat because with all these hundreds of bodies in the room, my eyes were killing me. Should I explain? Probably. I use Saint magic. Magic that allows me to capture and control a person's soul. Believe it or not, you've gotta be pretty smart to use it, I'm not as dumb as I pretend to be.

So Saint magic, right. Basically it's a gift AND a curse. Not only can I control the souls of everyone around me if I look them in the eyes, but I can also see the world on a different level. Like I'm halfway between our world and the spirit world. I don't just wear this helmet to make me look cool ya know! It helps me keep grounded to our world. To see what's in front of me rather than what's not. It's pretty easy to manage with thirty people or less. Fifty? That's pushing it. However many hundreds of wizards were in this room with their souls shining like beacons? Get me the hell outta here!Everyone was doubled! Their corporal body, and a glowing silhouette that all had different defining details. For example, the blonde cheerleader (Lucy) had a soul that shone gold with ribbons of pink pulsing through the light that took a vaguely feminine human shape. Then there was Lisanna's soul which is actually a real looker. It was blue like her eyes with white and silver shimmers every now and again. The most defining feature however, was that within her soul were the figures of a rabbit, a bird, a fish, and a tiger. Her takeover souls.

Something confused me about the whole thing right now. As pretty as Lisanna's soul was, and how hard I was trying to keep from slipping completely into dreamland, my eyes kept being drawn towards this one guy. The whole reason we're even here. Harry Potter. His soul was different from any of the rest. It was green, that much was obvious. Green, gold, and a little bit of orange. Like fire. But... there was something not quite right. Red would spark and drive through the soul as though trying to harm it. Whenever this happened, Harry's face would twitch in pain and he pressed a hand to his forehead over his scar. It was almost like something had attached itself to his entire being and was desperately trying to maintain itself by feeding off of him...

"Bixlow." Laxus grunted as he approached out table from the teacher's and rested a hand on my shoulder. "How are you holding up?" He asked, leaning over to look at our small gathering.

"Why? What's wrong with Bixlow?" Mira asked him with a deep set frown, her gaze turning to me and filling with concern. "You're not sick are you? Should we get Wendy to take a look?" The silver haired woman shuffled in her seat as though ready to take action at any moment. Beside me, Gajeel didn't react, playing with nails in the table and eating them when no one was paying attention.

"I'm fine. You all worry too much!" I said, forcing a grin and sticking out my long tongue. "Nothing I can't handle. I'll just go up to bed and sleep it off when I'm done eating." Waving away their concerns I began to pick away at what was on the table, biting the head off of a chocolate frog. His eyes only narrowed suspiciously, but he nodded and moved on.

"Huh... Well then if you're going to be a masochist then I have a message for everyone else. The first made a valid point that we should be training every day. That means exercise." The blonde told us all, looking pointedly at me. Okay, so I was a little lazy. So what? "And, we're to meet at the quidditch pitch every other day. The first has a plan to allow us to practice magic there without being seen by the other wizards. If you see any more of us, pass it on.

"Got it." Gajeel grunted between the sounds of shredding metal in his mouth. I couldn't help but wonder if that stuff tasted any good...

**Levy's POV **

I felt awkward. Besides a couple of the Fairytail wizards, no one had even dressed up for Halloween. They were all just in their usual wizarding robes... I adjusted the wings on my back where I sat at the table next to Evergreen and Freed. Evergreen's costume was pretty revealing as you might expect. Dressed as a nurse in a short white dress and stethoscope with the little hat that they wear... Freed was dressed more appropriately, fuzzy lupine ears on his head and fangs curving down over his bottom lip along with a mousey brown tail, he was clearly a lycanthrope. It was actually adorable to see him look like a werewolf since he wasn't very intimidating. Both the tail and ears were enchanted so that he could move them as an actual wolf would. Much like the angel wings on my back and the halo over my head that levitated without having to be supported above my head. Every now and again the feathery white wings would shuffle or beat softly for effect. Lucy wore the costume kin to mine, small curved horns poking out of her blonde hair along with a red dress and a red three tipped trident in her hands. Beside her was Natsu dressed as a demon, Gray was Jack Frost, Erza was a bride (shocker) and Wendy and Romeo were both mummies. Those of us who had dressed up looked great in my opinion. It was just a shame that I felt so out of place...

It reminds me of last year actually... No wait... Don't think about last... who am I kidding? Here it goes...

_*flashback music*_

_The music was loud in the Guildhall. It was a Halloween party to remember as we all drank and danced and laughed all while scaring each other in the dark. The lighting was eerie, the room filled with fog, and live bats flew throughout the room. A cauldron bubbled and boiled with a station for bobbing for apples, there was a haunted corridor, all of Magnolia was invited (so long as they were of legal drinking age at least...). That night I had been dressed as a living marionette doll. My face had makeup to make my skin look smooth like porcelain, and as though my features fad been painted on. I wore a ragged black and white dress along with similar stockings and black high heels, and in addition to my face makeup, I had a Chelsea smile painted on to look bloody and torn. The dress that I wore had been splashed with blood, and severed strings hung from my arms, wrists, and ankles. In my hand was a red stained knife. _

_"What the Hell is that gettup for shrimp? I thought you liked cute things like puppies and butterflies." His voice slurred in my ear. I could smell the alcohol from here, but then again, he was no more tipsy than I. At this point we'd all had one too many. _

_"Hey! Don't... I like creepy thing too!" I protested, turning to face him. The pigtails of my long ebony black wig bounced as I did. "You don't... don't know me!" _

_"I don't? Tch. That's a lie." He snorted. His costume was more elaborate than I would have expected from him to be honest. Liquid latex had been skillfully used (My guess is by Juvia) to make him look ghoulish, as though his mouth had torn itself open at the corners. The same technique had been applied to make his face burned and scarred. all down his neck and arms were deep slashes and cuts. His eyes contained contact lenses to give him bright blue demonic irises and pupils. _

_"Is not! I bet you didn't know that... That... That I own a cat named... named... Bubbles." I stammered through my drunken state, trying to put up a god argument. I didn't own a cat. _

_"I know that you're lying." Gajeel laughed softly. He was very close to me. Come to think of it, he was always close to me... could that mean... "You can't lie to me shorty. I know you much too well." He took a step forwards again and pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head. "You're drunk. I'm takin' you home." He said, his words slurring together as he scooped me up as though I weighed nothing at all and threw me over his shoulder. _

_"Gajeel! Put me down!" I had shrieked, pounding at his back with my fist weakly. No avail. Despite my struggling, he'd keep walking through the streets and past children on their way to trick or treat until finally he set me down at the entrance to the girls dorms in Fairy Hills. _

_"Here we go. Safe and sound." He said with a small smirk. I puffed out my cheeks to pout at him. _

_"That's not funny." I muttered. "I hate you." When I said this, his face had fallen slightly, but quickly recovered. _

_"Well. At least you're home safe now. No chance of..." He had looked away then. I couldn't help but wonder what there was no chance of, but sighed softly and stretched out my arms to hug him. _

_"m'sorry... I didn't mean it..." I had mumbled, wrapping my arms around his waist. _

_"I know shrimp..." He said softly, looking down at me. When I had lifted my head to see if he'd really accepted my apology, he leaned down and did the last thing that I ever would have expected. Gajeel redfox leaned down... and he kissed me. _

**You're welcome. New chapter for y'all n.n A little GaLe fluff at the end. But, spoiler, Gajeel doesn't remember :3 or does he? :3 Happy Halloween everyone. I plan to update genderbends tomorrow, and possibly Comatose today but I have a lot of stuff to do!**


	23. Train For Victory

**Sting's POV **

So Halloween had been a total bust. I mean, not even ONE of the Hogwarts kids had dressed up! I had looked like a total idiot in my lion outfit. Then again, Rogue looked even stupider dressed as a lamb... Not the point. Anyway, we had some new way of training that apparently the little ghost girl (there was no way that that girl was Fairytail's first master was there?) had come up with. Fine by me. I had been itching to have a rematch with Natsu-san. Rogue and I had been training for the last little while to be able to keep up with his example. Hopefully we'd meet it.

"Sting-kun, are you ready?" Lector asked, hopping up onto my shoulder from the floor as we walked down the dimly lit stone corridor. It was late at night so he had whispered it, but I could hear him still with my strong ears. I could tell that he was still curious about what we were going to be doing for our supposed training. Even some of our quietest spells could wake one or two students. Especially if one of them happened to see the flashes from one of the castle windows. Eh, whatever. Who really cares anyway? I glanced over at Rogue who had been silent up until this point, lost in thought.

"The two of you should keep your voices down. The caretaker seems to have keen ears for students out of bed." He murmured absently, one hand resting on the empty sheath where his katana was usually kept. Unfortunately, the whole 'no weapons in school' thing made it kind of hard for him to clear any security checks with it. Personally I find that rule stupid. You carry around small wooden sticks that could turn someone into a toad if you say the wrong bit of gibberish, have plants that eat you if you aren't watching, potions that can incinerate you with a single touch, but a sword that remains sheathed isn't allowed. Dumb.

"Fro thinks so too." Frosche said in a hushed tone, putting a finger to his lips with an excited smile. Why did Rogue bring him again? Wasn't he always being papa bear about Frosche getting hurt when all of a sudden he brings the little guy to a possible magic free for all? Weirdo.

"Yeah yeah yeah." I whispered, rolling my eyes and looking around a corner before heading towards the main and doors running a hand through my hair. I gave them a gentle push and grinned when they swung open without a sound. Well oiled hinges. Sweet. Makes my job one hell of a lot easier. Of course, I didn't really care about getting into trouble with the caretaker or not, but Rogue gets really bent out of shape over getting into trouble. Having my best friend pissed at me wasn't on my to do list, so meh. Stealth was fine... for now. Glancing at him, the other dragonslayer gave me a small nod as we padded down the stone steps into the large courtyard of Hogwarts.

"You couldn't have chosen something a bit more inconspicuous to wear?" Rogue muttered, scanning my usual short shirt that showed off my abs, lightly coloured jacket with white fur. My blonde hair probably stood out like a beacon, but what can I say? It's tough to be this hot. You catch attention wherever you go. I simply smirked at him and gave my head a small shake, crossing my arms.

"Sting-kun can wear what he likes!" Lector protested in my defense, earning a fist bump and a grin from me as we began to jog down towards the Quidditch Pitch. Rogue shook his head as he kept pace with the two of us, calling us idiots under his breath.

**Laxus's POV **

They were late. Idiots.

The sports field was dead silent in the night, not a sound to be heard except for whatever animals happened to be running around in the forest. Hell, even the masters were late. Am I the only one with a goddamn watch around here?! Scratch that, I don't even have a watch. I just used TIME MANAGEMENT hear that kids? New phrase for you. Get off your lazy asses and get down here before I fall asleep. The old man is right. They really are brats.

"Well, looks like we aren't the first ones here, huh?" Her voice chimed happily, causing me to sit up from where I had been reclined on the bleachers. Mirajane's hair seemed to glow softly in the moonlight. The pale white reminding me of seafoam from the way it complimented her eyes... Eugh... just realized how mushy and lovey-dovey that sounded... Behind her was Gajeel and Bixlow, the Slytherins. I guess it wasn't surprising that they's come down together in a bigger group. Not like there were many of them in that house.

"Nope. I've been here for half an hour you lazy fuckers." I grunted, rolling my eyes. It was meant to be a joke, but my stomach rolled uncomfortably when Mira lowered her gaze looking a little hurt from the insult. Oops... "What kept you?" I asked amid the awkward silence that ensued.

"That professor with the greasy hair kept patrolling the dorms." Bixlow said from within his helmet. "It was Mira's transformation magic that got us out in the end. Turned herself into a bat and flew into his face." He snickered, sticking out his tongue. "It was hilarious!"

"It was mean. But it had to be done. Otherwise he would have known that we were out." Mira said, rubbing the back of her neck with a slight blush. A cool wind blew through the area that sent a chill through my bones. I felt like I was being watched. I didn't know why, I didn't know by whom, but I could definitely feel it. My sense of smell may not have been as good at Natsu's (to my displeasure), but I could have sworn it nearly smelled like... No... That wasn't right. A flash of pink caught my eye and I glanced up from Mira's face to see a tiny speck of rippling pink in the distance next to what looked to be a shadow of some sort... What exactly was that?... I could hardly even make it out from all the way over here.

"Laxus?" Mira's voice brought me back down to earth and my gaze snapped to her face as I was pulled from my thoughts. Glancing back to the spot where I had seen the two figures, there was nothing. It was getting ate. Maybe I was just getting tired. My gut told me that that wasn't true, but I decided to ignore it and respond to my friend.

"Yeah? Sorry, I thought I saw something." I said, shaking my head.

"It's alright. I don't mind." Mira smiled gently, turning to walk across the grass to where a few more wizards including the masters had trickled in. Now it looked like we were just waiting on the Hufflepuff group and Jellal. With a sigh, I began to look around at the softly waving flags of the four Hogwarts houses. Green for Slytherin, Yellow for Hufflepuff, Blue for Ravenclaw, and Red for Gryffindor. Each flack had the symbol of their own house on it, and rustled in the cold breeze. The idea of houses disgusted me if I was being perfectly honest. Separating people because of their traits. It was dumb, just an ego booster that the world didn't need. Maybe part of that is just that I'm a little unsure about where I'd get dumped. Not that there was anything wrong with any of the houses, but having a hat go through my head and put into words my flaws and achievements, to dissect everything about my personality... Who the hell wants that? Not me. Nope. No way. No thank you. I do not need a guilt trip from a dirty old hat.

The old man starting to speak drew my attention once more. Shit, I really was getting tired, drifting off into thought like this. "As you all know, we're here for a reason. Not to just lollygag and make friends and have fun. If we are faced with an opponent such as Zeref, we will need to be in top form. We cannot afford to be out of practice when it comes to a battle such as this." Grandpa played with his beard as he spoke, the white cloak around his shoulders seeming to weigh him down. It was odd. As long as I knew him, and as old as he was, I'd never seen the old man look so tired.

"But master, what about Voldemort?" Cana asked from where she stood beside the blonde princess. What's her name... Right, Lucy. I always forget that one. For some reason Cana was groping her chest despite Lucy's look of utter discomfort. I will never understand that woman, I swear. I guess she got her perviness from old man Gildarts. Gramps simply shook his head in response to her question.

"I do not see him as a threat my children. Voldemort is nothing more than a brat who's going to get thrown off his high horse, just you wait. Compared to Zeref the dark wizard, Voldemort is no more than a blip on the radar."

"But they have that killing spell!" Wendy protested, tugging on one of her long blue pigtails nervously. The old man acknowledged her with a nod.

"That he does. But we can dodge spells. If you were to remove his wand from his possession, he would be useless."

"Like Lucy without her keys?"

"Hey!" The blonde protested, giving Natsu a smack on the head for opening his big fat mouth. A few of the other wizards began to snicker softly from his protesting Yelp before the master called out attention once more.

"That's enough. Now back to the original point. We all need to train. Tonight we'll focus mainly on magic energy training with one on one first hit wins. DO NOT go all out! Natsu, Sting, Erza, do you hear me?!"

"Yes master!" Erza said firmly. For the other two idiots it was more of a disappointed mumble.

"Very good. Our first match up will be Romeo versus Lucy." Mavis said with a small smile. "Romeo needs to strengthen the power of his magic, and Lucy needs to practice her new powers that are more ability based rather than relying on her keys. Freed has set down runes to keep the attacks from going past the bleachers, so don't worry about it if you miss. Everyone else clear to the sides of the field to give them room." With that, everyone except the blonde and the little guy cleared out of the middle to give them some space. "Begin!" Mavis called, raising her arms dramatically.

The pair wasted no time in getting right to the battle. Romeo's hands burst into flames as he rushed towards where Lucy remained still, glowing with soft golden light. It was almost warm to look at, I coud feel it from here.

"Stardress! Virgo form!" The blonde cried, the glow turning harsh and causing everyone to look away. When we turned back, Lucy was gone, a hole in the ground where she had been. Maccao's son looked around uncertainly, purple fire still swirling around his fists as he kept watch on the ground below. I was no expert on celestial spirits, but I was pretty sure that Virgo used- Lucy erupted from the earth behind Romeo, her long blonde pigtails rising with her momentum like golden snakes. Her outfit had changed to be a maid's outfit. Yep. A maid's outfit. Knee high stockings, black and ruffled at the bottom with an apron and a weird looking M on her right breast; the symbol for Virgo. Virgo used diver magic. So that's why she didn't have a scratch on her from being underground. Romeo threw a punch at her just a second too late as Lucy spun in midair, driving her foot into his back and sending the poor kid down into the dirt.

"Good match Romeo-kun!" Wendy cried from beside me, pulling free of our small group to run out and help him up. Oh my god, was everyone here oblivious to their crushes? I mean honestly. Valentines day at this damn school is going to be a day to remember. Probably love potions and all sorts of nasty things that Juvia should be kept away from. Natsu had also rushed out onto the field to congratulate Lucy on her small victory. Had the fight kept on going, I don't know who would have won since I didn't know either of their magics very well, but one thing was for sure. If we were going to be standing up to Zeref, we all had a way to go. Including me.

**Hi everyone. I'm SO sorry for the delay, but I've legit been drowning in English homework lately. I also joined the wrestling team and have to work. I'm hoping to update at least one of my stories each week, and if not I'll try to do a quick oneshot or something. Thank you so much for your support, please leave reviews, and guess what's coming up! The yule ball! Then the second challenge not necessarily in that order, I have to check that out. I'm off to work so if I made spelling or grammatical errors I apologize but I can't check them now. Love you all, Ciao!**


	24. Unease

**Harry's POV **

I was restless that night. I can't say why since I didn't even really know myself. My row with Ron had come to an end after the first task. According to him, he had realized that I'd have had to be barking mad to willingly put my name into that goblet. Gee, you think? In any case, there must have been a reason that I just couldn't get comfortable in the scarlet Gryffindor sheets. The searing pain in my forehead where the lightning bolt-shaped scar cut my forehead could definitely have been a factor, but that wasn't it! There must have been something else! But what...?

Finally giving up in my futile attempt for rest, I swung my legs around the side of my bed and crept out from behind the curtains to unlock the trunk at the foot of my bed. I flinched as the click of the locks echoed through the silent room uncomfortably loudly, but after a moment decided that I hadn't woken anyone up. Slowly opening the lid, I reached inside to feel my hand brush against a familiar silken fabric. Grabbing on to one of the folds in the black hooded garment, I pulled the invisibility cloak free from under some books and shut the trunk without any of the other boys in the room stirring.

The silence of the room was deafening. For some reason, there was an absence of snoring that made even my soft footsteps sound as though I were clunking around in iron boots. Glancing around the room, I saw something that gave me an extremely uneasy feeling. Natsu, Sting, Rogue, Gray, and Jellal were not in their beds. If they were gone, then I could only assume that Erza and Lucy were also missing. Hell, even the little cats that always seemed to be hanging around were nowhere in sight.

I considered waking Ron and Hermione, thinking that they'd also find this weird; but there would be time for that in the morning. Ron was a git when you woke him up in the night anyway. Pulling the cloak on over my pajamas, my body disappeared from sight and I padded down the boys staircase into the common room. The Fairytail wizards weren't there either. I couldn't help but wonder if they had all snuck out, even those in other houses. But who sneaks out at that hour? I had thought to myself, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was the middle of the night! This was suspicious... and Sirius had told me to keep an eye out for any odd behavior... My mind was made up. I quickly ran up the stairs to pull on a pair of my worn out trainers that had been Dudley's when he was nine. Even then his feet had been big enough for a teenager.

Sneaking out past the Fat Lady wasn't a problem, I had done it many times before after all. Soon I was walking down the dark corridors of the school towards the courtyard doors on a hunch.

"Lumos." I said quietly, my want lighting up to allow me to read the Marauder's Map in my hands. Many of the dots were all concentrated in their dormitories, a few of the teachers were in their offices, Filch and Mrs Norris were down in the dungeons, but as I had suspected; there wasn't a single Fairytail student inside the castle. For some reason, they were all concentrated down on the Quidditch pitch. A small voice inside my head said to just head back to bed and forget it; what they were doing was really none of my business anyway. That voice was quickly extinguished by the part of my brain telling me that following them could be vitally important.

…

It wasn't long before I reached the large oaken doors that led outside. The well oiled hinges didn't even creak as I slowly gave a push to open them just large enough to slip through. I suppose even Filch had his merits when it came to keeping the castle clean. Closing the doors once more without a sound, I began to walk down the familiar path towards the stadium where I had spent so many hours training over the last few years of school on the Quidditch team.

The cool November air was chilly, but not unbearably so. We had been lucky enough for a warm couple of days, keeping the temperatures reasonable. Pulling the cloak tighter around myself, I glanced up at the stars that were dotting the sky, unable to pick out one constellation from the next there were so many that night. Not a single cloud blocked the full moon that hovered above like a silver eye looking down on the Earth.

"Whoo! Good job Lucy!" I heard Natsu exclaim in the distance as I finally got close. Picking up the pace, I began to sprint towards the Quidditch pitch to see just what was going on, stepping through the players' entrance and emerging onto the floor just in time to see something that would forever change the way I saw the Fairytail wizards. Professor Alberona had actually set her bottle down, and was squared off against the girl from Ravenclaw... Evergreen I think her name was? But the fact that a teacher was about to fight a student wasn't what had shocked me. Not even close.

What had shocked me, was that they were fighting without wands.

"Fairy machine gun! Leprechaun!" Evergreen cried gleefully, flying with pixie-like wings on her back as a golden dust that she had released into the air turned into little shimmering bullets that all rained down on professor Alberona as she cried out in pain before retaliating by raising a hand with three cards between the fingers.

"Mountain! Lover! Magician! Summon fire!" She yelled, a determined expression set on her face as a large green en flames racing forth like snakes to strike at the flying blonde. Dodging, Evergreen landed back on the ground in a crouch, smirking as she pulled off her glasses and her pupils glowed with an odd light.

"Is that truly the best that you can do, Cana?" She taunted, looking her in the eye with glowing irises. "Stone eyes." She cried, a grin on her face when the professor looked away from her gaze. She took the opportunity to hit professor Alberona with another attack from her magical machine gun... thing. I was mystified as I watched the two women batter each other back and forth, neither giving an inch until finally...

"Card magic! Reverse Tower! Tempest! Mountain! Summon lightning!" Holding up three more cards, the professor's attack streaked towards the blonde woman and struck, causing her to scream out and fall to one knee.

"That's enough! The victor is Cana!" Makarov announced, the battle coming to an end as Evergreen slowly rose back to her feet and the two women shook hands. "Good match to both of you. But we still must improve." He said in a more serious tone. Evergreen put her glasses back on, and Cana picked up her bottle again before heading back to the sidelines with the other wizards.

How the bloody Hell did they do that?! They had no wands to assist them. That was just magic! Pure, unrestrained magic! Yeah, some wizards could make strange things happen when they were frightened or angry, but how on Earth did these guys somehow control it? Were they even from a magic school? And... oh my god... the cats were flying. And talking. And... I needed to tell Ron and Hermione. This could be something to do with Death Eaters, this could be some new threat, this could be anything! Turning my back, I quickly began to sprint back towards the castle, my breath making small white puffs in the air. By the time I got up to the common room, I was panting and out of breath. Not knowing how much time I had, I did my best to remain quiet as I stuffed the cloak back into my trunk and pulled off my trainers to climb into bed once more. It was a long wait, my heartbeat thundered in my ears as I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep until I heard a soft creak roughly half an hour later.

"Shh!" Sting's voice hissed, along with a soft thump.

"Don't kick him!"

"Fro is sorry..."

"I barely touched him Rogue!" The voices whispered softly, barely audible followed by the rustling of bed sheets.

"Give him a break. We're all tired." Gray whispered back before going quiet. I was surprised not to have heard Natsu before a thump of someone flopping down from the direction of his bed followed by a grunt caught my attention.

"He's heavier than he looks... Laxus really have to knock him out?" Jellal's voice asked in a hushed tone before retreating and heading back towards his bed.

"Laxus would never go easy on Natsu with Mirajane around. He loooooves her!" One of the higher pitched voices giggled softly.

"Happy keep your voice down." Rogue said quietly. After that, the room went silent. It was only after Sting's soft rhythmic snoring had once again filled the room that I finally found myself drifting off into a restless slumber.

**Hey guys. This has nothing to do with my little voting thingymajigger, I was just bored and was struck by a way to continue this onto the next chapter. Votes are still open though I ask that you only vote once. I was overwhelmed by the response of the voters and really almost cried with happiness (I feel so wanted, it's an amazing! ;^; )) Anyhow, if you haven't already voted for which story y'all want me to finish first, I encourage you to and will post the results on Thursday. Ciao!**


	25. Homebound

**Hermione's POV **

The next morning when I woke up, the girls from Fairytail Academy were nowhere in sight. Apparently Lucy and Erza had woken up before me and headed downstairs on their own. Not that it was unusual for Erza, but I admit that I found Lucy's absence surprising. She was nowhere near as lazy as what I had seen of their male companions (I swear that Natsu could fall asleep anywhere) but from what I had seen, the blonde enjoyed sleeping in on her weekends. Come to think of it, almost the entire dormitory was empty except for Lavender Brown and Ginny. Rolling out from my bed and pulling the covers up to smooth them out, I pulled on my robes and began walking down the spiral staircase to the common room.

As soon as I entered the room, I once again couldn't help but notice the lack of early morning commotion that had seemed to be present every day since the arrival of the Fairytail students. It was quiet. Much too quiet. However, there was one more thing that was out of the ordinary... sort of.

Harry and Ron were in the corner by the fireplace, Harry using his hands as he spoke which gave away the fact that he was agitated by something. Ron had a confused scowl on his face, and was shaking his head in disbelief as I made my way over to them and took a seat in time to catch the end of Harry's rant.

"They weren't using them! I swear! Ron what if this has something to do with what Sirius said about keeping on alert? He said that there were Death Eaters in the school like Karkaroff and Snape. How do we know that this isn't the same thing?" He said, his voice begging Ron to agree with him. Harry didn't look as though he had slept very well. His hair looked even messier than usual, his eyes had dark circles beneath them, and his shoulders were hunched like an old man's, as though he didn't have the strength to support them. When I sat down, the two finally looked up from their conversation and Harry shot Ron a glare. "Hermione will believe me, even if you don't." Harry said firmly.

"Not bloody likely!" Ron retorted with a snort, crossing his arms and leaning back into the cushioned armchair looking unconvinced and shaking his head slowly from side to side.

"And what is it that I will or will not be believing?" I asked curiously, looking between my two friends for some sort of an answer. Harry gave a small nod and began to speak.

"Well last night, I saw something. Something... that I probably shouldn't have seen. It was as though someone had lit a fire behind his dark green eyes from the way that they lit up with urgency, trying to get his message across. "I was down at the Quidditch pitch after midnight because I couldn't sleep and I saw... Them. The other wizards, the new ones, Fairytail. They were all fighting one another, but that's not my point. They were all doing this weird sort of magical duel, but they weren't using wands. Hermione, they weren't using wands! I've never seen anything like it before, and I don't know how they did it, but they were. I swear." He said gravely, holding my eyes. I had read somewhere that eye contact meant that someone was telling the truth, but I couldn't deny that I was skeptical.

"As you can see, Harry's gone completely mental after the first task." Ronald said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I want to believe you, mate. But to say that a huge group of people can use magic without wands... it sounds like you've gone mad."

"What? Just like you didn't believe me when I said that I didn't put my name into the bloody Goblet of Fire? Look, I realize that it sounds absolutely insane, but Dumbledore can use magic without his wand sometimes can't he? With the lights in the great hall and stuff!" Harry protested, sounding more and more desperate. I looked at him sympathetically and giving a small shake of my head with a sigh.

"Dumbledore is an exceptionally powerful Wizard, and even he can't use much wandless magic despite the smallest tasks, IF that's even Dumbledore himself. It could easily be another wizard taking cues from when he says certain things or gives certain gestures." I said hesitantly, trying not to completely shut down what Harry was proposing, but also rather curious about what his argument would be.

"I get that. But it's like no magic I've ever seen before! Come on you guys, I need you to trust me on this one!" He said desperately, pleading with us now. After a few moments, I finally gave a small nod.

"Okay... fine... but I'll need some proof. Maybe I'll talk to Lucy about it. Where are they anyway?" I asked, looking around the nearly empty room. "Where's everyone for that matter?"

"You didn't remember? It's a Hogsmeade weekend. Everyone is gone. They've been gone since this morning. Harry and I were waiting for you." Ron said, raising an eyebrow at me. I slapped my palm to my forehead in surprise as it sunk in, just now remembering from Ron's prodding.

"Oh no, I forgot! I was going to meet... Someone..." My cheeks flushed as the eyebrows of my friends shot up. I wanted to tell them, but I didn't really know how they'd react to my meeting with Viktor in the library while everyone else was gone. It wasn't as though it were an official date or anything... He just liked to watch me study for some reason... I needed to get some assignments done anyway. "I had better get going!... Harry, we'll continue this conversation later, I swear." I said as I ducked through the portrait hole and out into the castle. I admit that it felt a little weird hiding the fact that I was going on a (could this even be called a date?) with their idol, but it would give me some time to think about what Harry had said anyway. Besides, it's not like they needed to know EVERYTHING about me.

**Mavis's POV **

Perched on the edge of the table in the tavern known as the Three Broomsticks, I swung my feet slowly back and forth, listening to all of the conversation going on around me. It was rather interesting to learn more and more about this world as time went on, especially since I couldn't be seen, it was easy to glean information from various conversations. One in particular caught my attention, one between Barty Crouch (the organizer of the Triwizard Tournament) and Professor Moody whom everyone seemed to be calling Mad Eye. The conversation that I was hearing made me more than a little suspicious as I hopped down to walk across the floor and better overhear what they were talking about.

"The second task... I see... So this'll be even harder than the first one then. No matter. A little bit of gillyweed and a house elf and potter will emerge unscathed." The professor muttered to himself, of course thinking that no one would be able to hear him. Something was wrong. I could see it in the way that mister Crouch seemed to be slightly hunched over, looking almost like a sleepwalker.

"Yes..." He murmured absently with a dreamy/glazed over expression in his eyes. Whatever was wrong with him, it wasn't natural.

My mind began to work. Think, calculate. I used thoughts to make assumptions, and was only able to come to one logical conclusion that seemed to make any sense since it had the least number of variables. If this teacher had slipped into the great hall and put Harry's name in the Goblet, then he could easily be hoping that Harry was going to die in the tournament. If this professor Mad Eye was really the mole among the teachers, than it would make sense that he was trying to get Harry out of the way for Lord Voldemort! Mister Crouch was most likely under the imperious curse, one of the three unforgivable spells that were some of the absolute taboo in this world, much like an Abyss Break was among our own world.

But that still left two questions unanswered. How did we proceed? And how did Zeref tie into all of this?

If I could answer those questions, then this could all be resolved, I was certain. I could easily come up with a strategy that would work to strike all of these birds with a single stone. But for now I didn't know what to do. Try as I might, there were just too many variables left to try and predict an outcome. I needed more data, and I would need to share what I had already discovered with very few people in order to find out. I had four people that I would tell. It was unfortunate, but for my plan to work, I would have to keep the majority of the guild in the dark for the time being about what I had discovered. Otherwise we would be far too suspicious.

I would tell Laxus, Cana, Makarov, and Elfman of what was going on. The four would have to remain completely silent on the issue, and convince professor moody that they didn't suspect him of anything. In the tournament itself, Wendy would have to remain hyper-vigilant of what was going on around her in order to protect not only herself, but Harry as well. And we would have to train harder than ever before. Our enemies were strong, there was no doubt about that. And they were heartless enough to steal away a man's sense of free will. We had to be stronger than that.

In the midst of my thinking, I didn't even notice that the conversation going on beside me had abruptly stopped and Mad Eye's magical eye was trained directly on me. I went cold. No one was supposed to see me without a guild crossed somewhere on their body. Not even necromancers. It was a side effect of the lumen histoire spell. He continued to study me for a moment longer before turning away once again. But I could still feel that lazily wandering eye on me. I had been found out. Which meant that I had to disappear. If Mad Eye began to suspect Fairytail because of seeing me with them, then none of them would be safe. I couldn't risk telling what I knew now. Moody would be too suspicious. It was no use, it could risk the entire mission, and the lives of the young children of the guild that I founded over 100 years ago. With sorrow in my heart, I linked myself to the flow of energy that would return me to Earthland.

_Fairytail... I leave this up to you now..._

**Hiya. I realize that this chapter was soul crushing-ly long in the making, but my book of excuses has yet to run dry! Princess peach stole my underwear, so my laptop ceased to function (gotta love birthday scenarios) but in all honesty, I was studying and carrying out exams as well as sort of getting a social life (I know, strange isn't it?). Anyhow, my point is that I really hope to post more frequently now and stop procrastinating. I cried today from the new episode of RWBY, then the new chapter of Fairytail made me very excited, I got my nerd on at Hot Topic, I am BACK bitchez! ~ Please leave your reviews, and hopefully I'll be throwing you guys a new chapter real soon!~**


	26. Chapter 26

**Sting's POV **

Shit were we ever in trouble.

"The hell do you mean, the first is gone?!" Natsu demanded angrily on the quidditch pitch that night when we met for our training sessions. I could see why he was getting so worked up. That little ghost-girl had been our ace as far as I could tell. She was the one who kept telling us stuff about the challenges, and predicting the best way to stand watch against both Voldemort, and now Zeref. If she was really gone, that could spell trouble.

Natsu's was stomping around as though he were on a rampage with fire dripping from his mouth like drool, and Lucy was trying to calm him down before things got out of hand. (although, in the end she just sort of ended up yelling at him when he caught her skirt on fire.)

"So Mavis is gone. How do we proceed?" Rogue asked from beside me, his calm voice seeming to pierce the agitation in the air like a knife. I guess he was kinda like Erza in that aspect. Except the redhead is scary. Rogue just has a way of calming everyone down when we all lose our heads. I for one, simply shrugged, toying with my earring absently.

The gathered wizards all glanced around at one another, looking for any sign that somebody, anybody may have had a plan.

"What about you, gramps?" Gray finally asked as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off without even looking. Did he do that intentionally?... Must have been.

The old man seemed to consider for a moment, closing his eyes and remaining silent. It soon became obvious that everyone else had gone quiet too, just waiting for his choice with their breath held. Looking at him with his white beard and solemn expression, I could have sworn that he had aged twenty years in that one moment. Damn... Like I'd known that the Fairytail master was old and all... But now he just looked ancient. I wonder, if we left him here, would he fossilize?

"The first is gone, but we will continue as normal." He said finally, opening his eyes and looking around at all of us gathered. "The disappearance of the First is no more than a temporary inconvenience. If she didn't believe that we could handle this, she wouldn't have left." Looking around, I couldn't deny that that was a nice sentiment but... this is Zeref we're talking about, isn't it?

I know that I can be cocky sometimes... but even I'M not suicidal. I've seen FairyTail wizards in action, and I admit that being on the receiving end of their rage would scare the crap outta me now that I know what they're capable of. Zeref... Well let's just say that after going up against that bastard Mard Grier... Zeref seemed more than a little bit of a death mission to challenge.

"Are you sure, master?..." Mirajane asked hesitantly, glancing around at all of us gathered as though she had come to the same conclusion that I had.

"OF COURSE HE'S SURE!" Natsu exclaimed, seeming to have been reanimated as he clenches his fist with a wide grin. "Right, Erza? Laxus? Lucy?" It was almost eerie how slow the responses came, and the tone that they were delivered in.

"Right..." Erza said, her voice surprisingly quiet as she moved just a little closer to Jellal subconsciously.

_Oh there is definitely something there... _I thought to myself with a slight smirk as I took a half step closer to Rogue, his scent offering familiar comfort, like a cool autumn night.

Laxus simply grunted in response to Natsu-san's proposal, and Lucy looked away uncomfortably, her hand drifting to something golden hanging around her neck. It kinda looked like one of Yukino's gate keys, but it was too small, like it had been-... broken. Oh shit. So then blondie's carry around more weight than she lets on. Yukino had explained to me sometimes about how attached celestial wizards got to their spirits, and vice versa. Maybe I'd ask her about it later, after all, I'd been spending a lot of time with her lately in order to get to know her better.

To be honest, I still felt pretty bad about how I'd behaved in the Grand Magic Games, so it's almost been therapeutic to get to know the Fairytail wizards one by one, learning about them and befriending them.

Looking up at Rogue, I raised an eyebrow when I saw Froshe trying to climb off of his shoulder and up into his head. He seemed to be having a little bit of trouble, but I'd learned a long time ago that Frosh got upset when I tried to help. For whatever reason, he wanted to do things by himself.

"What are you doing, Frosh?" Rogue asked, reaching for his small companion who jumped up to avoid his hands. Everyone was starting to look as Frosh hopped over Rogue's reach again and again.

"Fro wants to talk!" The small green exceed exclaimed finally. Lector glanced at me as I glanced back at him, both of us frowning slightly. Frosh didn't usually say much unless he was agreeing with someone else.

"Fro thinks that Fairytail can do it!" He said with a determined look on his face, unzipping the back of his frog suit with effort, and turning to show the Sabertooth emblem on his back. "Fro is not strong. But Fro is strong because he has friends! Rogue taught Fro that he will not disappear because Rouge will protect him!" Zipping his costume back up, Frosh turned back to the rest of us. "Rogue is strong because Fro is not. He is strong to keep Fro safe. You are all the Rogue and Fro to someone else!"

I don't know how he did it, but having picked up on the emotions passing through all of us, Frosh had completely understood the situation.

"So what you're saying is... We'll become stronger to protect the others?" Rogue asked him gently, translating Frosh's use of third person, and his personal reference in order to clarify for anyone who may not have understood.

"Fro thinks so." The exceed nodded, finally letting Rogue pull him down into his arms and hold him with a small smile.

"Aye sir!" Happy chirped happily in agreement, landing on Natsu's head and high-fiving his best friend.

"That speech... was MANLY!" Elfman exclaimed, tears running down his cheeks as Lisanna patted his arm gently, a small smile on her own face.

"Don't cry, big brother." She said softly, pulling Elfman into a gentle hug. Looking around, I couldn't help but notice that everyone glanced at somebody after Frosh's speech, and Rogue's explanation.

**Sorry that the chapter was short, but hopefully my computer will stop being so temperamental and WORK from now on! Love you guys! Thank you SO much for being so patient!**


	27. Buried in the Black Lake

**Juvia's POV **

The third challenge. We had never for a second seen it coming.

Standing next to Gray-sama in the audience, Juvia and her friends looked at the water in mild confusion. The egg that Wendy had received from the previous challenge had offered us no clues as to what the second challenge may have been, so we couldn't plan accurately for what was to come. However; now it was clear that Juvia would be the greatest help in this activity.

Reluctantly pulling away from Gray-sama, she walked back through the gathered students from the magic schools to find a place where she would not be seen. It was odd to be alone, but Juvia knew that the other Fairytail wizards cannot breathe underwater like Juvia can. She would have to help Wendy on her own.

When Juvia was finally sure that she could not be seen by the wizards from the three wizarding schools, she began to wade into the lake one step at a time. The water was cold around her waist and stomach, but to Juvia it was like a welcoming embrace as she finally melted into the lake and merged with it. It had been quite some time since Juvia had allowed herself to become one with the water again... It was such a calming feeling... she wished that Gray-sama were here...

Shaking her head to clear it, Juvia opened her eyes and looked around at what she would be dealing with below the glassy surface of the Black Lake. It was clearly salt water, she could feel it as it passed through her body. The lake seemed to stretch for miles in all directions with a minimal amount of light flowing through it; casting eerie shadows all around. Juvia could not even see the bottom, there was only a shadowy black void from fifteen feet down and onwards. Looking to her left, Juvia could see some sort of movement in the murk, something that looked oddly like a giant octopus was spread out over a gigantic rocky outcropping, a gaping mouth full of fangs tearing at what appeared to be a shark.

'Perhaps Juvia should avoid that...' She thought to herself, swallowing thickly as she turned to her right. Unfortunately, what lay there was not much better.

Weeds that stretched up from fathoms below the surface. They were a sickly yellow-green, and stretched as far as the eye could see. A gentle sway back and forth was their only movement, making them seem harmless, but Juvia still had a bad feeling in her gut. It was too innocent for a lake that was a household for the creatures of the deep. The way that the light reflected off the thick leaves would occasionally be ever so slightly irregular, telling Juvia that there was something else within those weeds. The fact that whatever it was could hide so well made Juvia a little bit more nervous for Wendy's safety in the challenge that would be beginning in only a few minutes time.

Deciding that her safest choice would be to go over the weeds as close to the surface as possible, Juvia began to swim back towards the large platform where the champions were waiting to dive into the water. For what purpose, Juvia didn't know.

Glancing down as the menacing weeds as she moved over them, Juvia could have sworn that she saw a pair of pale yellow eyes staring back at her, but when she blinked, they were gone... a shudder passed through her transparent body, sending a slight tremor through the water around her before fading. It almost felt like a blessing when the legs of the platform and the vibrations of people talking finally caught Juvia's attention. Speeding up a little, Juvia reached out to grab one of the posts supporting the platform before putting her head above the water to listen to what was being said. Hearing a sound to her left, she turned to see that Lisanna had gotten a similar idea.

The youngest Strauss took a breath when she finally came up for air with her long, coral coloured tail swishing gently in the water below her. Juvia had forgotten that Lisanna's animal soul allowed her to become a creature of the sea since there was only rare occasions to use such a spell, but she was grateful for the assistance nonetheless. With her white hair, brightly coloured tail, and pale complexion, Juvia wasn't sure how she planned to blend in with her dark surroundings, but knowing Fairytail wizards, Juvia was sure that she had a plan.

"Juvia! You're here!" Lisanna exclaimed in a hushed whisper, flicking the muscles of her powerful tail to propel herself over to Juvia's side and cling to the same wooden post that Juvia was. Her bright cerulean eyes seemed to flood with relief that she wouldn't have to protect Wendy alone as she continued speaking. "I'm so glad... If only everyone else could breathe underwater, this would be so much easier." Lisanna whispered, glancing up at the shuffling footsteps above.

"Juvia agrees..." Juvia said with a grave nod. "She doesn't like this lake. Even for Juvia, it is much too-..." Her words were cut short by the sound of Dumbledore-sensei's voice booming over the water and the hills. His voice was clearly magically amplified so that he would make himself heard. Everything and everyone fell silent to let him speak.

"Welcome to the second task. Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion... now lie on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win... each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface." Dumbledore announced, his voice serious and firm as he explained the rules to the champions. Looking up at the faces of the champions, Wendy appeared just as calm and collected as the rest of the older competitors. "They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the sound of the cannon." For only a few moments, there was silence.

Then, a loud BOOM! Signaled the start of the challenge, and all five champions dove over the edge of the platform towards the water. Let the games begin.

**Wendy's POV **

The water was freezing cold. As soon as I hit, I could feel my muscles begin to stiffen from the lack of warmth in the February water.

Immediately, I waved my 'wand', and used wind magic to surround my entire body in a thin layer of fresh air that would allow me to breathe for our hour underwater. There wasn't much that I could do to try and stop the cold from seeping into my limbs, but that was only a minor problem for the time being. Looking around as the other champions branched off and disappeared into the water, I noticed Fleur head off towards the weeds, Viktor into a rock filled crevice, and Cedric swimming off into the seemingly empty water to my right. Deciding that it would be best not to go after any of them, I decided to dive straight down while Harry went off somewhere behind me.

Down. Down. Down. I kept having to adjust the air pressure around me to prevent the weight of the water from hurting my sensitive ears and making them pop. It was only a few moments before I felt a hand on my arm and Lisanna came into view, along with Juvia's watery form. I let out a soft sigh that caused a couple of bubbles to escape from my mouth and float up towards the surface. Thank goodness I wasn't alone... I thought that I may have been on my own since we weren't really prepared at all for this task... Thankfully, I was proven wrong.

Juvia gently began to guide me by the hand as though she already knew something that I didn't about where the treasures were being kept. I wouldn't doubt it. Juvia probably just sensed a disturbance in the water, or some sort of magical power source. It must have been pretty neat to be able to become the water like she could... It would certainly be helpful at moments such as this where my sky magic wasn't exactly valuable.

About twenty minutes passed before Lisanna suddenly grabbed my arm to pull me to a stop, she then signaled to Juvia to do the same. I frowned at her in confusion before she wordlessly tapped her own ear to tell me that there was something important that we'd need to listen for. Without the swishing sound of our arms and legs displacing water, the sound that Lisanna was talking about instantly caught my attention.

_Come and seek us far within the deep, _

_Where the lake joins with the sea, _

_Upon the silken ocean floor, _

_You'll find your treasure safe in store _

The song... It was beautiful. I'd never heard a voice like that before anywhere above the water. Even though the lyrics were obviously directing us where to go, I almost wanted to follow the trail of music just to find the singer...

I was brought back to Earth by Juvia tapping me on the shoulder and pointing towards a spot in the distance before gesturing with her hands to make a sort of 'joining' movement. That must have been where the lake met the sea. It made sense, I could see more light filtering down and reflecting in that direction which would suggest that it was more shallow and could perhaps be water passing from one body to another. Nodding to my blue haired friend, I kicked my legs and left the singing voice behind in favour of finding whatever had been taken from me. It must have been something important, otherwise it wouldn't be a treasure, right?

Lisanna gestured to us that she was going to swim ahead before darting off into the gloom to investigate what we were going to be up against. Obviously there had to be more to this glorified game of hide and seek than staying underwater, after all. Dumbledore had said that the tasks were supposed to be challenging. I'm not saying that holding your breath for an hour is easy, but for wizards of this skill level who had fought dragons, I wouldn't say that this was really... challenging. There simply had to be more.

Lisanna returned when we were nearly to the lightened part of the water, a nervous expression on her face as she began to try miming what was up ahead. First she tapped her throat and opened her mouth as though she were trying to speak or... sing.

I nodded to say that I understood before she began to wiggle her tail fin slightly, raising it and giving a gentle flick to emphasize that this was what she wanted us to see. Then she began to play with her hair and gesture to the human part of her body. Singing plus tail plus human body... mermaids? Well... that would definitely explain a few things about this challenge. The singing, the underwater nature, hoarding of treasure... mermaids were a perfect explanation if the legends about magical sea people that Grandina had told me when I was little were true.

Taking a deep breath, I continued to paddle forwards until old broken down ruins of what looked like an old marble building loomed into view. I gestured for Lisanna and Juvia to hide so that they wouldn't be discovered if the other champions arrived before swimming out into the ocean. It was brighter here. The water was clear enough that beams of light from the world above could reach all the way to the bottom and illuminate the sandy bottom that was littered with old swords, armor, as well as white marble columns, statues, and mosaics that had become a resting place for all different sorts of algae and small ocean creatures such as stingrays, octopi, and a few different mollusks.

Merpeople with shark-like tails and grim expressions on their faces slowly circled the area, glaring evilly at me as I slowly drifted forwards into their territory. I made eye contact with a younger one about my age, but he only hissed at me with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Each of them carried a sharpened weapon, but they didn't point them at me as I braved further into their territory. I could only assume that they were somehow pre-informed of the plan, unlike the dragons who were there only to try and guard the egg with instinct rather than knowledge of what was going on.

When I reached the center of what appeared to be the courtyard of the merpeople's home, my breath caught in my throat from the horrific scene before me. Four people were drifting in the water with their eyes closed, held to the bottom by an improvised rope made from seaweed. Their faces were pale, and blank as though they were... dead...

In an instant, I had rushed to the side of the smallest of the four victims. Her white fur was swaying gently in the water, and her ears were hanging to the side as though she didn't have the strength to support them. Charla.

'Charla! Charla! Come on, wake up!' I thought to myself in a panic, tugging at the weed and attempting to free her. After a few moments of trying and failing to pull my friend free, I used a slash of sharpened wind to slice the bonds away and pull the exceed into my arms before glancing around. There were still two treasures left. Two treasures and a champion. Ron was being cut away by Harry who must have been standing by, finally getting freed and pulled into his arms. But that still left two. Hermione and a girl that I didn't recognize.

I looked at Harry who looked back at me with determination in his eyes, gesturing for me to go back towards the surface. I simply shook my head, pointing to the young girl with blonde hair who looked very much like Fleur. I couldn't just leave her down here! The hour surely had to be almost up by now! Staring at one another, it was like we came to a silent agreement.

Harry moved to try and undo Hermione's restraints while I moved towards the other girl to do the same. Before I could as much as touch the seaweed, however, a trident was pressed to both my throat and Harry's.

"But she's my friend too!" I heard Harry protest, his voice muffled and warped by the water all around us. The merman threatening me let out a low growl, turning to Harry to speak.

"Only one!" He hissed angrily, baring his sharp teeth in warning. But before they could do anything more, mermaids from all around began to let out shrieks and flee as a massive shark approached, bigger than any that I'd ever seen! Even the merpeople that had been threatening Harry and I, spun away and took off into the water. I can only assume that sharks are higher on the food chain.

Now that it was closer... I could see that it wasn't even a shark at all. It was as though someone had tried and failed to use transformation magic for the first time as the creature had the head of a shark, and the legs and body of a man.

The creature darted forwards and snapped through the rope holding Hermione before dragging her up towards the surface, giving me the impression that it was actually Viktor Krum inside that shark's head.

Harry and I were alone once more. Nodding to one another, I swam back to the rope holding the blonde girl to the bottom and severed it, allowing Harry to scoop her up into his arms and begin kicking his legs to pull both she and Ron up towards the surface. I followed a short distance behind him in order to fend off any mer-creatures that may have decided to follow us from their nest. Fortunately, once they left, they seemed to stay gone.

When we were only about twenty meters down from the surface, something began to change in Harry above me. I came to a stop, blue hair swirling around my face as I saw his hand suddenly clap over a place on his neck where there had been gills only a few moments before. This was clearly not good. He began to kick and thrash out of the blue, giving the blonde girl and Ron a heave to send them floating up to the surface. As soon as they were out of reach, something shot from the weedy area below, then two, then three, all of them looking like little goblins with octopus like tentacles all clinging to Harry and biting at him when they noticed his moment of weakness. He raised his wand and uttered a spell that sent them flying off in all directions, seeming to have at least stunned the odd creatures for now. But then... he was just still... slowly beginning to sink.

"As-...cen...di-…..." The spell died in Harry's throat as his eyes slowly closed from his lack of air. I glanced started to swim towards him again just in time to be passed by a jet of whitewater. Juvia's face was clearly in the center of it as she collided with Harry's limp form, blasting him from the water and into the air before to let him land on the platform with a loud THUMP. Letting out a sigh of relief, I broke the surface a moment later, and began to paddle towards the platform where Romeo, Natsu, and Lucy were calling my name in a panic, holding out their hands in order to pull me up out of the water. I couldn't help but feel a grin spread over my face as I felt Charla stir in my arms, her eyes slowly opening.

We had done it. Two challenges down, one to go.

**So I was writing this chapter, and I already had six and a half pages written when I realized, SHIT! I forgot the YULE BALL! All that shipping time! Lost! So I'm here to ask for your opinion, faithful readers. Would you rather that I make a couple of the characters flash back to the ball, or would you rather that I simply post that chapter next week and put them into order when I post it (so that the ball chapter will come before this one sequentially)? **

**Also, I'd like to apologize for the long wait. Exams are coming up, I got a job, quite frankly I've had writer's block, and it's all just a mess... Anyway, I'm sorry if Juvia's chapter was hard to read, but GODDAMN is it ever hard to do a first person narration where the character addresses themselves in third person! Pretty sure I said 'Juivia' like 20 times. So I'm sorry, I'm rusty. As usual, leave your reviews in the comments and I'll hopefully write again at some point next week. Yay yule ball! It'll be a fluffy chapter for sure! But not smutty... I see all you smut lovers out there. You can't hide from me amongst the weeds (-.-) I see you. ciao for now! :)**


	28. I understand

**Wendy's POV **

_Letting out a sigh of relief, I broke the surface a moment later, and began to paddle towards the platform where Romeo, Natsu, and Lucy were calling my name in a panic, holding out their hands in order to pull me up out of the water. I couldn't help but feel a grin spread over my face as I felt Charla stir in my arms, her eyes slowly opening. _

_We had done it. Two challenges down, one to go. _

Paddling as fast as I could through the water of the Black Lake with Juvia's assistance, I finally reached the wooden platform in the middle of the lake in order to get pulled out. Natsu, being the tallest and strongest of the three, reached me first, holding out one of his hands. When I reached up with my free hand to grab it, the dragonslayer flashed me a sharp-toothed grin and gave a heave that lifted me from the water's icy clutches like a rag doll. As soon as my feet touched the slippery, wet wood, Lucy had me wrapped in a fluffy blue towel that had obviously been held close to Natsu's chest because of how warm it was. A blanket quickly followed, getting draped around my shoulders.

Within my arms, I could feel Charla trembling from her head to her paws. This only made me hold her closer as I let out a soft sigh of relief. At least she was safe. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without Charla in my life. Fairytail is my family, my home, don't get me wrong; but Charla had been my best friend for my entire life. And... she was the only thing that made me remember that my time spent with Cait Shelter, my first guild, wasn't just some fantasy that I'd made up. It was real. Charla helped me to keep those good memories alive.

"How'd you do, Wendy? What happened? Why'd you come up last?" Natsu asked me, spreading his hands with a look of confusion on his face. I guess he must have thought that I'd come up first... That wouldn't be unlike him. Natsu expected Fairytail to come first in everything, not that I could blame him. We are a pretty strong guild, after all. Before I could respond and tell him what had happened beneath the dark water, the crowd's cheering and loud, excited chatter fell into hushed whispers. Glancing over towards the judging platform, I could see why. Dumbledore was going to speak.

"Students, Champions, and teachers! The second task has been completed! In first place, Cedric Diggory!" The gathered Hogwarts students erupted into deafening cheering and applause for their champion. I admit that I joined them for a few moments since Cedric and I had become friends. "In second place, Viktor Krum!" When Dumbledore announced the Durmstrang champion's name, the Bulgarian school went insane. They all sounded like a bunch of barbarians before battle as they began chanting "KRUM! KRUM! KRUM!" Over and over again until they were silenced by the headmaster's continuation of his announcement.

"In third place, Harry Potter!" This time, only the Griffyndor's of Hogwarts were cheering and clapping. That was really too bad... but at least his own house had accepted him as a champion, right? A few of the fairytail wizards who had made friends with Harry over the last little while applauded as well. "In fourth place, Wendy Marvell!" Fairytail had scarcely begun to clap when Natsu started to protest loudly.

"What? No way! Come on, she had to have done better than that!" He yelled loudly, causing me to laugh softly. I was flattered that Natsu-san had so much faith in me, but honestly we were cheating, and Dumbledore knew it. He'd practically hired us to cheat, after all. Even from our platform, I could see the amused twinkle in his eye as he watched Natsu-san throw his mini tantrum and get dragged away by the back of his vest by Erza-san. When the gathered students were quiet, he made his final announcement.

"In fifth place, Fleur Delacour!" There may as well have been a cricket chorus for the Beauxbatons wizard. Even that would have been better than the pathetic pity clapping that the petite woman received. "However;" Dumbledore continued, "Due to his display of bravery, and compassion to save not only his treasure, but the others as well, we have decided to award mister Potter... Second place!" At this, the Gryffindors began to cheer and clap louder than ever as the Durmstrang students broke into an uproar of protest. From where I was sitting, I could see Hermione and Ron speaking with Harry excitedly about the revised standings. I noticed that my position had not been changed, but that was alright. I couldn't help but feel by face break into a smile as I began to laugh softly. Two thirds of the way there. And I was doing just fine.

**Jellal's POV **

That night, The Gryffindor common room was far too loud and full of activity for my tastes. It had always been that way, really... crowds, people, they all made me want to simply hide myself away from the world. I couldn't help but feel as though I were going to be discovered at any moment. What hadn't helped was what that... that woman had written about me in the Daily Prophet around the time of the first task. Even though Dumbledore had somewhat cleared things up, I knew that the students of Hogwarts still believed me to be a murderer... and the worst part is that they weren't wrong. So now I was here. I didn't know what room it was, exactly, but I was grateful for its presence. On the eighth floor between two tapestries of trolls, I had needed a place to let off steam, and the door had simply... appeared.

Sweat was dripping from what felt like every pore in my body as my taped knuckles dug into the sandbag over and over again, almost as though I were battling my problems with each and every slug that the training bag took. All around me lay fallen bags and piles of ash that had been left behind as I trained... and trained... and trained... What else was there to do? While I was not with Ultear and Meredy, going around the continent and disbanding dark guilds to redeem myself for my sins, the least that I could do was keep in my top possible physical shape in order to keep my mind and body sharp.

"Heavenly body magic: Meteor!" I growled under my breath, feeling my limbs lighten and speed up. The drain on my magic energy was substantial enough, especially after what I'd already consumed while beating up the other bags. My fists began to blur in front of my eyes as I struck the bag too fast for the human eye to follow until finally, I leapt up and spun in the air, delivering a kick that blew the sandbag clean off of its chain, and back into the far wall. I could feel my chest rising and falling irregularly with exhaustion as I finally let my arms fall to my sides, and took a set against the wall to sip from a bottle of chilled water that I didn't remember as being there a moment before. From somewhere off to my right, a voice spoke up from where they had previously been silent.

"You know, you don't need to run off and destroy shit whenever you feel uncomfortable." The voice was gruff, definitely masculine, and familiar. Glancing up from my drink, Gajeel was staring back at me with his usual flat, expressionless stare. I didn't know how he'd gotten into the room since the door had seemed to have disappeared after I'd gone in, but perhaps it had simply been a coincidence. Without asking permission, the iron dragonslayer took a seat next to me along the wall, looking at the carnage of the training equipment that had been strewn across the floor during my venting session. I continued to wait patiently for him to say something, but it was another five minutes before I finally had to break the silence.

"I would have thought that you'd be off somewhere with Levy." I commented, setting my now empty water bottle on the floor. After all, they always seemed to be together. Gajeel was usually seen hanging over her like a shadow. I knew immediately after I spoke that I had said something wrong. Gajeel's face tensed and became even harder than usual.

"She's not talking to me since I still haven't apologized for tryin' to hit that blonde weasel, Malfoy." He muttered, arm turning into an iron sword that he used to begin scratching at the stone on the ground. "I heard the noise in here and thought that some kind might have been getting into trouble with bullies or somethin'." When finished tracing out a music score, Gajeel's arm returned to normal, and he heaved a long sigh. I simply raised an eyebrow when he continued. "I thought you could use a guy who gets it."

"Gets... what?" I asked skeptically, not really sure what Gajeel was '_getting_'. What I felt was the weight of my sins, and my sins alone. What was there to '_get_'?

"How you're feeling. Don't expect me to have a chick moment, because that's not what this is. I'm not gonna say that I'm here for you if you need anything, we're not gonna talk it out over coffee and cupcakes or whatever it is that girls do, but what I want to say is that I tried all this shit. It doesn't work." Gajeel said flatly, gesturing to the sandbags on the floor. "You can't bury all that pain by going off alone and beating stuff up. You have to overcome it. Lemme guess, there's a big party for the Potter kid in the dorms, and you got uncomfortable so you left." He said simply. My eyes narrowed as I attempted to see what he was getting at.

"And what's your point?" I demanded, beginning to get tired of this 'beating around the bush' as I brushed away some of the dark blue hair that was sticking to my forehead. Gajeel rolled his eyes before continuing.

"When I first joined Fairytail, I couldn't stick around for anything with a lot of people either. I was ashamed of what Phantom Lord had done to their guild. What **I **had done to their guild. I nearly killed the blonde princess, after all. I knew that I wasn't wanted in Fairytail, so I would leave. I'd go off alone to a junkyard or whatever, and beat up the scrap metal until there was nothing left but shreds of metal. Then I'd eat the iron and feel a little bit better about myself until the second that I stepped foot into the Guildhall again." He said, staring down at something in his hands that had clearly been crafted by someone with a delicate touch. Levy perhaps? Shaking my head, a scowl crossed my face.

"You think you understand me, but you don't. I hurt people in ways that you can't even imagine. I've killed so many people..." I said softly.

"I tortured innocent people for sport." Gajeel said simply, his eyes lifting to mine with a flat expression. His words are delivered in a cold and cool fashion. He was simply stating facts, not putting any emotion behind it.

"I nearly killed Erza, and scarred her for life." I protested, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists as the memory resurfaced. As a child, I had betrayed her. As a woman, I had broken her time and time again.

"I crucified Levy to a tree. And I laughed." He said, not breaking eye contact with me. The slit pupils of his red eyes seemed to bore unyieldingly into mine.

"I tried to resurrect Zeref!"

"He was never dead. Doesn't count. Enough with the self-pity, and the sins, and the lone wolf crap." The iron mage grunted, rolling his eyes and standing up to turn his back as he dusted himself off. "Look, I didn't come in to bitch and moan about what I've done, and I'm not here to listen to you bitch and moan about what you've done. I came in here to tell you to suck it up, learn how to overcome your personal issues, and move on. Or she'll move on without you." With that, Gajeel said nothing more, leaving me to watch his spiky mane of black hair as he walked out the door and closed it behind him with a dull thud that shook me to my very core.

_'Move on. Or she'll move on without you.' _

Erza.

**Okay, so I know that I said that the next chapter would be Yule Ball, but I sat down to type it about five times, aaaaaaand... nothing! Each time, the chapter was absolute crap that made me want to hit something. I promise that the next chapter will be more plot-based stuff, rather than these little heart to heart chats, but I thought that Gajeel and Jellal deserved a moment alone because lately I've been thinking a lot about just how similar they actually are. So... I have a question for you lot. Do you think that Harry should confront the Fairytail wizards about using wandless magic before or during the final challenge? I put the question to you guys because I've really been debating this! Thank you all so much for sticking with me all this time! I love you all so much! Hopefully the chapters will come easier from here on in. Maybe next chapter I'll even add some class time or something. Anyway, Ciao my little mages!**


	29. I told you PART 1

**Harry's POV**

The chill of the February wind chilled me to the bone as I waited by the quidditch pitch an hour after midnight after completing the third task. I had been there for roughly an hour now after slipping away from the party in Gryffindor tower. It's not that I wasn't appreciative of the party that had been thrown in my honor after the second task, and it wasn't that I wasn't absolutely exhausted from the second task itself -even now I could feel my eyes start to droop after the rather exciting day that I'd had. There was just something that I needed to confirm. Something that had been bothering me for a while. Behind me, the soft breaths of Ron and Hermione did little to keep me awake, the steady rhythm of their inhales and exhaling causing a sort of lull in the winter silence as snow descended like glittering tears from the grey clouds that drifted across the silver moon.

"Remind me why we're here again, mate?" Ron yawned, clearly struggling with staying awake like I was. If anything, Hermione seemed the liveliest among us. I didn't blame him for beginning to get cranky. It was cold, we were cramped under the cloak, and we'd already been out here for over an hour. Still no sign of the Fairytail wizards.

I had to admit, the guilt made me feel like I had swallowed a stone from spying on the people that had been nothing but nice to us. But I simply had to know; were they using wandless magic, or had I simply been having some sort of vivid hallucination from a lack of sleep? As these thoughts crossed my mind, I began to rub my scar with one hand, wincing from a sudden sting that I usually only got when I dreamt of Voldemort.

"Shh, Ronald. I hear something." Hermione hissed to silence Ron's grumbling. Almost instantly, the three of us went completely silent. I held my breath as I strained to hear the voices that Hermione was talking about with my own ears. It didn't take long before footsteps with accompanying voices drew close enough for their words to be deciphered.

"I'm simply suggesting that we attempt to make some sort of a plan before going into the third task without any defenses set up around the perimeter of the school!" A sophisticated voice that I automatically understood to belong to the green-haired Ravenclaw bloke who always seemed to be hanging on Professor Laxus's every word. The man sounded agitated and frustrated to say the least, but seemed to at least be trying to keep a level head with whomever he was talking to. From what I could hear, it wasn't working overly well. From the same direction, another male voice responded with a somewhat indifferent attitude.

"I just don't see the point in that. My babies are on lookout 24/7 around the castle towers. When they see something, I'll know. You're just all worked up because the first isn't here to back up your brainy way of doing things." When the man had finished speaking, I could finally catch a glimpse of those involved in the conversation. There was Freed, like I'd guessed, his friend who always wore a medieval style helmet, and a woman in a rather revealing outfit (especially for February). Lowering her glasses, the blonde woman's green eyes almost seem to flash as she regards the pair.

"The two of you need to knock it off. You're being childish and it's wearing at my patience." The woman who, after wracking my brains, I remembered to be named Evergreen said impatiently. Freed and his companion paused in their argument, seeming subdued by the woman's threatening tone. Lapsing into silence once more, the three of them paused at the entrance to the pitch- no doubt waiting for the rest of their schoolmates to arrive. In the meantime, Hermione was quick to begin whispering about the object of the odd group's conversation.

"What do you suppose they mean by setting up defenses around the school…?" She whispered softly, keeping one hand over her mouth to be sure that her words were not overheard. Ron mirrored her before proposing another question.

"What the bloody hell do you think he means by 'babies'?... Somethin' doesn't feel right, mate… not one bit." The ginger said quietly, shaking his head. I can't say that I didn't agree with him. Wizards that could use wandless magic (if I was right about that), strange people from a school that we'd never heard of… defenses around the school… my curiosity was eating me alive. Then again… I had been totally ignoring the most valuable tool at my disposal- their trust. Maybe trying to find answers by watching them wasn't the right way to go about it. I needed to try something a little more personal than that. Something wasn't right here. And I'd be damned if I wasn't going to find out what. "Come on, guys." I whispered softly to my friends, deciding that it would be better to sneak off now than to stay and risk being discovered. I had enough information now to convince them that I was telling the truth. Nodding silently at one another, the three of us slowly stood together and began creeping back to the castle under the cloak.

**Bixlow's POV**

I hate meetings.

That's it. That's all I have to say.

**Gajeel's** **POV**

Meetings suck. Then again… this particular meeting had some perks to it involving a small blue-haired girl that made my heart do an un-manly tap dance whenever she was close. If she only knew about all the songs that I've written for her… eh, besides the point. Where was I? Right. Meetings suck.

Standing outside in the cold at 1 in the morning discussing plans and shit wasn't how I wanted to be spending my night. Makarov and Freed were talking about how we should all remain vigilant and alert even when the trials weren't going on, where we should all position ourselves when the challenges did happen, blah blah blah. I tried to pay attention at first, don't get me wrong. I know how important this stuff is; I know what's at stake. But by this point even bunny girl was starting to nod off, leaning against the salamander for heat as well as to stay upright. I wasn't cold per-se. I didn't usually get more than a little chilly on even the coldest nights although I've never quite understood why. I guess it's just because dragons are durable animals.

Levy had gravitated over to me about an hour ago when the wind had picked up, huddling close against my chest in an attempt to share the warmth that I was apparently giving off. It had been quite a while now since I'd hit Draco. After my little chat with Jellal earlier this evening, Id taken my own advice and apologized to the little shit before Levy distanced herself from me even more than she already had over the last couple of months. It seemed to me as though she'd been relieved to start talking to me again, but maybe that's just wishful thinking. With the soft snowflakes landing delicately in her hair, her face looked like it was wreathed with a clear blue sky filled with stars in the middle of the day. The thought made the corners of my mouth quirk up into a small smile that quickly returned to a scowl when I was called on to give my opinion on one of the several defensive formations.

"Long as it works." I grunted, my shoulders rising and falling indifferently towards the subject. Besides, what did I know about defensive strategies? Usually I just sort of hit the thing until it doesn't get back up. That's my defense.

Across the circle of mages that made up our little meeting, I couldn't help but take notice that Juvia looked… uncomfortable. Now, knowing her for as long as I have, I knew that it could have been one of two things. Number one, Juvia had always seemed to feel… out of it, during the wintertime. I think it's because she feels vulnerable. Juvia's magic allows her to control water in its liquid state, after all. In the winter, when there's really no moisture in the air for her to draw power from, she has to rely on her body alone to attack with magic. The second- and more likely- of these reasons was that something had happened in the Black Lake. If I had to guess, I'd say that something within the water itself had creeped her out. I decided that I'd try to talk to her later and see if she'd open up about what was on her mind. She had always had a way of opening up to me when she was upset, even way back to our Phantom Lord days. I can't say that I always listened, but whatever.

I am truly sorry, this is a short chapter and it's incomplete, but I figured that something is better than nothing, right?! Anyway… I have hit a serious wall. I think I need to end this story soon before I lose all interest in it. That's not fair to me, and it's not fair to you guys if I just drag this out for the sake of a longer story. The next chapter that I post will wrap up this particular segment that this story started before I will likely move on to the third task, and by extension, the finale. I'm sorry to those of you who really need closure, but unfortunately, I just don't have the time to post as much as I'd like and get back into this story. I still feel horrible for keeping my other stories on hiatus just to finish this one. I promise you that I will NOT half-ass the ending. If I take a long time to update, it's because I don't want to make you guys feel cheated by a flop chapter so deep into the story. I care too much about your opinions and my own writing for that. Anyway… ciao for now. I love you guys.


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